


Blue Bottled Belly Dancers and Other Fine Myths

by ClarySage (ClaryTehSage)



Series: BBBD & SLD [1]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 09:04:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaryTehSage/pseuds/ClarySage
Summary: This Fic Contains: 1x2/2x1, 1+2/2+1, eventual lemony things, Istanbul, AU, there's mild cursing, mild angst, and other things too... Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

The one thing I never realized about Istanbul was the incredible smell of the place. The air is ripe with every smell known to man. Spices and bodies, breads, ancient dust, rich perfumes, fish, and flowers, it writhes its way into your nose and straight to the brain. A solid wave of smells.

I arrived in the city early, checked into the hotel, dropped off my bags and immediately headed out again to explore. The stalls and streets called to me. I spent the day wandering amongst the smells of the Spice Bazaar, taking in everything. It took me a few tries at haggling before I seemed to get the hang of it; soon I was carrying an armload of rugs, fruits, a bottle of wine that had supposedly been aged fifty years. I stood in yet another carpet walled booth, eyeing several small bottles that lay in a basket. One had the most beautiful cobalt blue color, white swirls patterning and mixing with the deep shade.

"How much?" I asked the stallholder, who sported a large black mustache and had been watching me browse. That in itself was somewhat unusual, as most of the vendors I’d dealt with tended to hound you, forcing things into your sight.

"One million, two hundred thousand."

I stared at him for a moment. Then did a quick mental computation, oh, eight dollars and fifty cents. "That’s too much, one million." Which came to about seven bucks.

"One million, two hundred thousand." He countered, looking somewhat harried.

"One million, that’s all."

He glanced at the woman tending the register then shrugged. "One million."

I hid a grin, it seemed like a bargain to me. Setting down my packages I picked up the bottle. It was heavier than it looked. It was roughly the size of a soda bottle, fluted and curved at the top, a dark cork plugging its contents. I shook it a little, there seemed to be something in it, perhaps some ancient brew for an unnamed malady.

I dug in my pocket and produced the currency, grinning at my new prize. It was time to go back to the hotel and relax, examine my new treasures and perhaps even eat.

***

On the way back to the hotel, I nearly stopped and joined the mob surrounding one of the fish vendors. They were grilling fresh fish, stuffing it into loaves of crusty bread with sweet onion and spices; the smell almost drove me mad with hunger. This was easy, considering I’d yet to stop and have something. But I made it back to the hotel, taking off my shoes and ordering up room service.

Room service showed up within a half hour, bustling in with a laden cart and more enticing aromas. I shoved a fistful of lira into the waiting boy’s hand and turned my attention to the feast, barely registering the closing door. Switching on the TV, I spent the next hour picking food from the tray and oggling the news. I was glad to turn the thing off and stare out the window instead.

I was leaning half way out the window and watching as the sun drenched the city with the last of the daylight. When I remembered the bottle I had bought. My last purchase of the day. Leaving the window open to let in the coming night, I picked up the bottle and went to the bathroom to look at it.

The lights in the bathroom were the brightest, and I didn’t know if I would want to be rinsing out whatever sloshed inside of the blue bottle. I wiped away the dust covering the striking cobalt color, and held it up to the light, but I couldn’t seem to see into it, the milky white lines that caressed and webbed their way across the bottle, also blocked any decent view into the thing.

I decided I was just going to have to take my chances, and started loosening the cork. What would it be? Some ancient perfume? Perhaps a nice alcoholic beverage from the past?

The cork came out with a soft pop, and dust was exhumed. I coughed and waved my hand to clear the air, when it encountered something solid. Opening my eyes, I found myself staring at a bare chest, a male bare chest. I looked up. The most deep, cobalt blue eyes met mine, and I fainted.

***

It’s not every day you pull a cork out of a bottle and have something other then a bad smell come out. When I came to, I was lying on my bed. The television was on, playing the news again. I blinked a few times, wondering if I had dreamed the whole thing. I must have, I mean, people do not appear out of bottles. If they did, they’d be a genie... I lifted my head and looked down at the floor in front of the TV.

Leaning against the foot of the bed was... what? A genie? A man? A trick of my senses? I cautiously prodded him with my toe, nearly leaping off the bed when he turned around and glared. He certainly looked the part of a genie. Baggy, gauzy pants, wild hair, startling eyes, chiseled chest muscles. He was actually gorgeous. More so than anyone I had ever seen before.

"Do you speak English?" I asked him, looking at his eyes for confirmation that he’d understood what I had just said. His glare if anything, seemed to get worse. "It’s just, I’d like to know how the hell you got into my bathroom... " I trailed off and watched as he stood up. He was tall, taller than me, not like I’m very tall. But this guy was huge, at least six feet, maybe even seven. But he was so evenly proportioned, so perfectly built.

"I speak all languages." He said in a strangely accented voice, and I believed him.

"Well would you mind telling me how you got into my bathroom?" he gave me a look, like I was crazy for asking, "it’s just I’m not sure how you got in there, but maybe you should go?" Not that I really wanted him to leave, he was so beautiful, like a fine painting, like wonderful music that you must hear more than once.

"I cannot leave until you make your wishes." He said in perfect seriousness.

I stared in astonishment at him. It had to be a dream. Genies didn’t exist. They were just stories, fables, not true. Right? "Tth-three wishes? Right?" He nodded. "But... that’s just a story, there’s no such thing as a genie."

"I’m a Djinni, not a genie. And you have three wishes before I’m free to sink into oblivion again."

He sounded so... so dead when he said that. As if he’d said it millions of times before, and he didn’t know how he’d managed to say it again. "Well, I have time right? I don’t have to wish right away do I?" He shook his head slowly from side to side.

"You have all the time you need."

All the time in the world, I bet. Simple as a wish. A wish... no. Three wishes. "Do you have a name?"

He looked surprised; maybe you’re not supposed to ask a Djinni its name?

"Heero."

"Heero huh?" I reached out a hand, which he ignored; I shoved it into his large hand anyway, shaking it. "Duo, Duo Maxwell."

***

Having three wishes can seem like a dream come true. Unless you’re like me, and have read all those old stories and fables, drunk in Arabian Nights like a sponge. I knew what having three wishes meant. It meant I would most likely be tricked either by the Djinni or myself into messing it all up. So how to wish wisely?

Heero in the meantime had settled onto the floor again, I noticed after a while that he was idly flicking through the channels. Then I noticed he wasn’t using the remote. I was still sitting on the bed, so I slithered down to the end of it and leaned over his shoulder to check. He wasn’t using a remote; he didn’t even move his hands. It seemed like a neat trick to me.

I tapped his shoulder and he turned his head to glare at me. He didn’t seem to be a very happy guy. "Heero, I know you can’t help me with a lot of things, maybe you don’t even want to. I’ve read about geni... Djinni, you all don’t seem to be a very nice lot. Tricky even." This didn’t seem to win him over any; his eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth thinned. I felt a line of sweat trickle down the back of my neck. "I was wondering, what uh... " his eyes were boring a hole into my head, "W-what can you do for me? I mean, three wishes is all well and good, but what if I don’t want them? Can you just take them back?"

"No." He growled out, and turned to stare at the television again. I let out a silent sigh and sat up. This needed some thinking.

Of course, I’d thought about what I would do with three wishes. Hasn’t everyone? But to actually have them was something completely different. To know I could wish for anything... "Can I wish for more wishes?" I asked, though I was almost positive the answer would be no.

"No."

I nodded. Ok, some things are true to myth. "Do you have a list of what I can’t wish for? If you do, that might narrow it down some." He was glaring at me again.

"Why don’t you make a wish, and if you cannot do it, I will tell you?" He said it slowly, as if I were a complete idiot.

I leaned back on the bed, stretching my legs out. Then I collapsed, and stared at the ceiling. The Djinni thought I was a fool. I probably was. No mortal can make a good wish without screwing it up, and what if he twisted my words and muddled up my wish? "Heero?" I sat up again and looked at the back of his unruly head of hair. "Will you try and twist the words of my wishes? I mean, if I say something like, and don’t you dare think of this as a wish I’m actually making... What if I wished for a sandwich? Would you ask what kind? Or play a dirty trick and give me something like a shit sandwich?"

He’d turned around by the time I finished and gave me this look. I couldn’t tell what it meant, but it almost looked like mild surprise. I waited for him to respond, wondering what he could possibly be thinking. I wondered how old he was, what he’d seen.

"I would," he paused and nearly looked guilty, "play foul tricks on you."

"Really? That’s kind of cruel." I shrugged and dismissed it. "So I have to be really careful what to wish for and how I word it?"

He nodded, finally ignoring the TV and facing me. "Will you do anything for me without my wishing for it?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed again, and he started to shake his head no. I held up a hand. "No, I didn’t mean it like that, I think. I meant," I fished around for what exactly I had meant, "What if you saw a bus speeding towards me? Would you save me? Or let it hit me? I mean, do you have any loyalties I should know about? Do you think you’re evil?" His eyes had widened again, he didn’t seem a very talkative person... Djinni.

His mouth opened and shut a few times and then he settled down against the foot of the bed again, stretching his long legs out in front of himself.

With his back to me, I wondered once more, what his thoughts were. I crawled down to the end of the bed and leaned over his shoulder. "Listen, I don’t know what to do with three wishes. I mean, it’s the kind of thing everyone dreams about," I chuckled, "it’s the kind of thing people wish for. But I don’t want to screw up the world, so maybe you could help me?" I noticed my breath was ruffling a bit of the hair at the base of his head and leaned back up onto my elbows, sighing. "What would you wish for?"

He turned around and I nearly found myself sighing again, only this time at the intense cobalt of is eyes, just like the bottle, so deep... I blinked a few times, shaking myself.

"I cannot grant my own wishes." He sounded almost sad when he said it, or perhaps resigned.

"Well, if you could, what would you wish for?"

He sat there, staring into my eyes. It was like he’d never really thought about it before. Maybe he hadn’t.

"I would wish to be mortal." Now it was my turn to stare at him.

"Why would you want to be mortal? We die. Or hadn’t you noticed? I mean we suffer a lot; we get hungry and have to sleep and stuff. Do you have any of that happening to you as a Djinni?" I’ll admit, I was very curious. It’s not everyday you get to ask a real live Djinni questions.

"No." His eyes went sad. "No" He said again, as if for emphasis.

I waited for more but he didn’t seem to have anything else to add. "So why do you want to be mortal? What’s it like being," I gestured helplessly, "being what you are?"

I leaned my head over his shoulder and rested my chin on one hard, muscled pectoral. He didn’t seem to mind. "Tell me what it’s like. You said we have all the time in the world. Or are you all set to get back into that bottle. Is there something in there I should know about? Maybe a whole other world?" He had turned his head when I put my chin against him, and as I talked, he’d just watched me, something like bewilderment on his face.

"Have humans changed so much?" He asked softly.

"From what? When was the last time you were... um, out?" I shifted on the bed and slid down onto the floor next to him, leaning my head back against the bed next to his.

"My last master was alive in the time of the Huns."

"Wow. The Huns? You mean like Attila?"

He nodded. "Yes, my last master." I blinked at him in astonishment.

"You were Attila’s geni...Djinni?" I pulled my legs up and hugged my knees. "Wow, what was it like?"

"Very dirty and there was a lot of horse shit."

I glanced at him sharply. Was that actually a joke? But his face remained immobile. "I wish you would tell me about yourself." Then I froze. His eyes focused on my face, and I felt myself start to blush. I wanted to smack myself, but remained frozen in place by my own stupidity.

"Your wish is granted."


	2. Chapter 2

Of all the stupid things I could have done, I did the classical, wish by accident. It’s not like I could take it back once it was out of my mouth either, but I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to. I mean, I had what I wanted; I’d get to learn more about the Djinn.

Heero had been smirking ever since my little impromptu wish. I think he was happy about it. Who knows, maybe he’d been dying to tell his story to someone? Like a tell all for Djinni. I wondered whom else he might have worked for, though I wasn’t sure if worked was the right word for it.

He’d gone back to watching the TV, while I mentally smacked myself for wasting a wish, or not wasting it, I had yet to decide. He seemed to take an awful lot of interest in the television, and how did he know about TV anyway? He’d supposedly been in a bottle for about fifteen hundred years. "Heero?"

He shifted slightly so he could keep an eye on the flashing screen.

"How come you know how to, or what to... Why are you watching so much television?" We were both still sitting with our backs against the bed, his long legs stretched out, and my shorter ones tucked in.

"It is real, is it not? It will tell me what the world is like now?"

Well, I had to agree with that, it would indeed show him exactly what the world was like. Not very good, especially since he seemed to have a thing for the news.

"Well, we aren’t like what you’re going to see on that thing." I said pointing at the TV, and glancing around for the remote.

"TV lies all the time." I finally spotted the little black remote and turned off the flickering boob tube. "So you granted my wish. Does this mean if I ask questions about you, you have to answer them? Or will you just tell me your life story. How exactly does this whole wish work anyway?"

"Do all humans talk as much as you?"

I felt the feathers of my dignity ruffle. "No, I have a rare gift for the gab." He tilted his head and regarded me with amusement.

"Gab?"

"Yeah, I can talk very well and all the time. But only if, well, if I have something to say. You have to admit I keep asking questions, right?"

"Yes, too many."

"Thanks, but maybe the number of them will go down if you answer some of them?" I smiled at him and inched closer. "Was there really so much horse shit with Attila? Who else have you served?"

He did the strangest thing then, a soft red inched its way up his neck and into his face, and I realized he was blushing. But what on earth was he blushing about?

"Heero?"

He glanced at me and then looked away. "I lied."

I choked. "You lied? About what?" I gave him a puzzled look.

"Attila, he wasn’t my last master, he was one of the first. My last master was alive in the 1800’s."

"Why would you lie about that? That’s kind of weird if you ask me."

"We Djinn don’t like to tell the truth. Humans don’t value it."

"Of course we value the truth, why do you think we’re always asking people to tell the truth? Don’t lie, we say. And we mean it. I don’t like to lie unless I absolutely have to. I mean, it’s harder to get yourself out of a lie then out of the truth." I sighed, and slumped lower to the floor. "So my wish was for nothing? You’re going to lie to me?"

"I cannot lie to you now. You wished that I would tell you about myself. I have no choice but to comply." He didn’t sound incredibly happy about that.

"So, who was your last master? Anyone famous?" I still wasn’t too happy about being lied to, but what could I do? Maybe now he would tell me the truth. I didn’t know how wishing worked for him, maybe he really did have no choice.

"I do not think he was a famous man. He was quite ordinary compared to some of the others. He liked to read and study his books. He was a scholar."

"What were his wishes?" I asked curiously, hoping to get some ideas.

"He wished for time, so I gave him some. He wished for a companion that would suit him, I gave him that as well."

"What was his last wish?"

"He wished I would let him die." Heero said sadly and stared at the floor.

"Wait a minute," I held up a hand, "let me get this straight. He wanted you to let him die? I think I’m missing parts to this story. Maybe you should tell me how you granted his wishes. I don’t mean how you did it, I mean what you gave him."

"I gave him time, time to study and learn, time to be by himself. It was what he wanted. But then he grew lonely and wanted someone to share his time with. So, he wished for the perfect companion. I gave him a woman, a charming, intelligent woman, who also studied and knew much."

"So, why did he wish for you to let him die?" That was the part that puzzled me the most, I mean, if a Djinni wanted to keep me alive...

"The woman died."

"Oh, I guess that explains it, love can be like that."

"Yes." He went back to staring at the blank screen of the television. I watched his face. It was really beautiful, all sharp angles and planes, high cheekbones, stunning, exotic eyes.

I shifted around again and lay with my head on the floor and my legs on the bed, stretching my arms out above me, eyes on his face. "Why didn’t you bring back the woman from the dead? Or is that a no-no? Wasn’t there anything you could do?"

"I cannot bring things back from the dead." His face went stiff again.

"Why not?"

"When a person or thing dies, the soul leaves. It is hard to bring back something without the soul to occupy it."

I wiggled my legs on the bed. That made sense. I mean you wouldn’t want your lover to come back as a zombie. Well, maybe if you were really sick and didn’t care that their personality was gone. "Why were you trying to stop his death?"

"He died of old age, he was too proud to try and kill himself." The look on his face became even sadder; it made me want to comfort him somehow, just watching the misery in his eyes.

"But there’s more? He couldn’t have just died of old age. Why would you be so sad about it otherwise?" I inched closer to his legs, my feet nearly brushing his shoulder where he leaned against the bed.

"He aged prematurely, overnight it seemed. One day she died and the next he was ready to follow her."

I knew suddenly, that he had loved that master, cared for him. "True love." I breathed and he glanced at me sharply.

"What do you know of love? You’re young, certainly life has not imprinted itself upon you."

I flinched back from the anger in his eyes, written all over his face. Then I got angry myself. Who was he to tell me what I knew or didn’t, what I had felt in my life. "Age has nothing to do with life or love. Just because I’m young doesn’t mean a thing." I stayed still when he leaned closer to me, his cobalt eyes dark.

"And how old are you human? You don’t look a day over fifteen." There was a sneer at the corner of his mouth, and I felt the sudden need to wipe it off.

"I’m twenty-two if you must know, and how old are you?" I sat up and leaned towards him, trying not to be afraid of him. But he was so big, so much taller than me, and not just by height, it seemed. It was like he out-weighed me with sheer presence. I blamed it on him being a Djinni.

"I am older then the sands of the deserts, older then the oceans, I am older then time."

"That’s... pretty old. You’ve held up well I think." He gave me a look, and if I hadn’t known better, I would almost have bet my life that he was about to roll his eyes. But he didn’t, he merely continued to look at me, and his gaze seemed to grow heavier, as if he were trying to peer inside my skull.

"You’re a very strange human." He said finally, relaxing back against the bed once more.

"Well, you’re a very strange Djinni, so we’re even." I settled back down on the floor and grinned up at him, and he almost smiled back, it was progress, of a sort.

I wound up switching back to lying on the bed. The floor had been comfortable, but I felt the need to be on higher ground then my large Djinni friend. He didn’t seem to mind. I got the feeling that many of his masters felt uncomfortable around him, striving to put themselves on higher footing in one way or another.

He still sat at the end of the bed, though I had taken the remote and hidden it. I didn’t think TV would be good for him. It might teach him bad things about the humans of today. So, for a time we sat in silence. His profile was to me, so I spent most of that silent time looking at him. I’d never really thought about males in this strange light before, well, I had, but I don’t think I’d ever meant it. Something about my Djinni, he was beautiful, in a tall, refined, Djinni kind of way, different. My Djinni, I liked the sound of that. And briefly, I wondered if I could wish for him, to keep him.

Even if I had been able to think of something to wish for that I didn’t already have, I would have wanted to keep him. Despite his arrogance.


	3. Chapter 3

It was growing late in the night when I finally decided that I should, like any good tourist, get some rest. I had after all, flown in, gotten to the hotel, and headed right back out again to explore. I was tired after a long day, though it seemed like several days had in fact passed.

Heero had settled down with his chin in his palm, staring out the window at the city lights as they went out and came on as the morning approached. I slipped off the bed as quietly as I could and made my way to the bathroom. I reeked after a day of reactions.

The shower was as sumptuous as any I’d seen, a large tub, a mirrored panel opposite it. Soft, fluffy towels piled high and even a few native bath products. I sighed in pure happiness. In a few moments, I was naked and sitting in a filling tub, carefully holding my braid out of the water to keep it from getting wet. Sometimes it was tempting to just tie the damned thing up to the rack above my head, rather then hold it.

I had just settled back and raised my feet to the ledge, sinking lower in the water, when the Djinni came in. Without knocking, but then, do Djinn even know what manners are? Considering I was completely naked, I think I handled it rather well. I sunk under the water, only afterwards noticing that the water was perfectly clear, and my evasive maneuver for nothing. After sputtering and coming up for air, I looked at him to find he was leaning on the sink ledge and watching me with amusement. I pulled on my imaginary cloak of indifference and tried to gather my dignity. "Do all Djinn have manners as bad as yours?"

He tilted his head and regarded me. His eyes seemed softer now, and I felt myself flush at his scrutiny. I found myself trying to fill up the silence with empty chatter, just to make that gaze go away somehow. "You could of at least knocked. What do you want? I felt dirty, so I thought I’d take bath." Throughout my vague and shallow tries at a dialogue, he didn’t respond. If anything, his eyes had grown more dangerous somehow. Predatory.

My Djinni, mine. He had no right to make me feel as if I were a piece of meat. I straightened up and tried to stop turning red. "Did you have something you wanted to say? Or are you just trying to make me wish for you to go away?" I tossed my head and steeled my eyes.

"Modest human." He smirked at me, and I started blushing all over again. "You haven’t used up your first wish yet."

I turned in the tub and leaned over the edge, propping my head up on my palms.

"My first wish hmm? I do want to know more about you. Tell me about yourself Heero." And I hoped it would distract me enough so that I wouldn’t care about the fact that I was naked in a tub talking to a Djinni.

It did not help that he towered over me in the bathroom, making me feel smaller then I really was. I am in fact, not that short a person, but Heero made me feel positively miniscule. I looked up at him, locking gazes. "Why do you have to be so damned big anyway?"

He blinked at me, and then... well it was strange. One minute, there he was towering over me and making me feel small, and the next he was... my size. He looked exactly the same, only not so big. It didn’t change his presence though; it still felt as if he were bigger then I was, somehow. But this was more comfortable, and at least now, I didn’t have to look up quite so high, my neck had been starting to ache. "Much better." I murmured.

And he smiled at me. A slow, soft smile, that had me feeling warm and more naked then I already was. "You remind me of a priestess of Bast. She would bath for hours and talk to me over the edge of her tub."

"Bast? Don’t you mean Bastet?"

"Yes, she was known as both names, sometimes also she was viewed as the beneficent side of the lioness-goddess Sekhmet. My priestess was well worshiped, she never decided on a wish, and merely kept me near her side as a companion."

I was shocked, hearing him say he was as old as the sands of all the deserts, was one thing. But to hear about him actually being alive in the time of the ancient Egyptians, was a completely new reality. It was fascinating. "Did she have cats then?"

He still smiled at me, sinking to his knees and curling up against the vanity. "Many, they roamed the entire temple, the constant noise and smell of them was very individual."

"How so?" I leaned a bit further out of the tub, resting my elbows over the edge and bringing my head down on the smooth surface to watch him.

"Each one had a smell and a voice, and the mixture of all of them was like a great chorus to the cat goddess. That is what Inea said it was. A prayer for her goddess."

I thought of something, and mulled it over a bit before asking. "Have you ever had sex with one of your masters?" I had been curious, no sleep, no eating, what did he do? And love after all, takes many shapes and forms. He had seemed to love these various owners, and I wondered just how much and in what ways. To my surprise, he looked embarrassed. This from someone who had barged in on my bath without a qualm.

"I have. Some wished for it, and others wanted it." He looked away for a moment, and I realized the ones that wished for it, were probably not the ones he would have picked. It was not a pretty thought, but I would have bet it was true.

"Did any of them ever love you?" It was four a.m. and according to my internal clock, it was a completely different time. My questions, I admit were becoming a bit more open and bold.

"Yes, and I many of them. You seem curious about this."

I nodded, watching him over the edge of the tub. "I am." I didn’t say anything more, waiting to see how he would respond. Though, I didn’t expect him to lean over with that feral look and kiss me. That, was the last thing I expected. My eyes closed even as his lips touched mine, and after only the briefest moment of them brushing against me, a shock ran down my back. Kissing Djinn was going at the top of my list of favorite things to do.

After a few seconds, he pulled back and stared into my -most likely- glazed eyes. "Curiosity can be dangerous human."

That did it. "Stop calling me human! I have a name." I pulled back and yanked the plug out of the drain, standing up and reaching for a towel. "Damned Djinni." I glared at him. "Go wait in the other room, would you please?"

He stared up at me from the floor for a moment, and then stood and headed for the door, just as it was shutting behind him, I could have sworn I heard a soft "Yes master." It made me feel... odd.

***

He was back at the window by the time I made my way out of the bathroom. He looked different in the near darkness of the room, watching the soft light on the horizon as the sun began its awakening for the day. I dug through my duffel bag and pulled out a pair of shorts to sleep in, glanced at him, and then pulled out a t-shirt as well. Normally I slept naked, but just looking at him made me feel the need to be as dressed as possible. If I had owned a flannel pair of pajamas, I would have put them on, despite the heat.

Without saying a word I slipped under the sheet and thin blanket, tugging them up to my chin and trying not to watch him. I wondered what he was thinking about, then turned over and curled up on my side, staring at the wall instead. My mind kept playing with that kiss, wondering what it had meant, if anything. Eventually, I managed to sleep.

***

It was most likely late afternoon when I woke up again. I had almost half expected the arms that were wrapped around me. And I didn’t mind them one bit. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, and realized he was still my size. I wondered if somehow he was sleeping, but knew he wasn’t. Then I wondered if he knew I was awake. He answered that question within a moment of my thinking it.

"You’re not even silent in your sleep." His voice said right next to my ear. I rolled over slowly, not noticing until after I had, that our faces were mere inches apart, my body pressing firmly against his. I didn’t move.

"What are you doing in my bed? I thought you didn’t need to sleep?" My breath came out in a soft huff on the last word as he shifted slightly.

"You were crying out. You were afraid of something." He smirked and leaned closer until his nose was brushing mine. "You became calm when I stroked your back, master." I cringed when he called me master.

"Please, stop calling me human and master, my name is Duo. Ok?"

He blinked and leaned back a bit to regard me.

"Duo. It makes me feel... like I’m horrible somehow when you call me master, and it just degrades me when you call me human. I am human, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And I may be your ‘master’ but... just don’t call me that either." I finished lamely, looking down, avoiding his eyes.

He was silent for a long time. Then my stomach growled, I felt him shift and move back. Looking up, I watched him glare at my belly. Without him even making a gesture, I found myself sitting at a table that had appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the hotel room. I blinked.

"Hhhow... how did you do that?"

Food appeared on the table, eggs, bacon, and slices of fruit, breads, pastries, and coffee in a dark lacquered pot. It smelled divine. My stomach gave another rumble at the offering. Heero sat down opposite me in a chair that hadn’t been there a moment before. He gazed at me silently.

"Thank you Heero." I dropped my eyes to the table again, picking up the fork that lay there. "Thank you very much." And when I looked up, he was smiling at me again. I smiled back at him.


	4. Chapter 4

I was having another cup of strong, thick, Turkish coffee, when I realized Heero was eating too. I watched him over the edge of the thin china cup. He was delicately picking slices of fruit from a bowl; he looked like he was enjoying tasting each kind. I had thought he wouldn’t eat, though he had never actually said so. Did this mean he slept as well? Was he more human then I’d first realized? "Just what are you?"

He glanced up, meeting my eyes. "A Djinni."

"Yes, but what exactly is a Djinni?"

"A creature of nature, of the desert. Once we did not have souls... " He broke off and looked distant, then idly picked up a cup of coffee that appeared on the table, and sipped it with a thoughtful expression.

If I truly didn’t know better, I would have said he was being coy. But I knew better, I had to. I had been remembering vague scraps and facts about the Djinn ever since the night before, piece by piece putting a few things together. With them, it was always an eye for an eye; it was how they treated you. If you were nice, so were they. The foul tricks were played on the ones that truly deserved it. So the question was, how would this Djinni judge my actions? I looked up from my scrutiny of the tablecloth and noticed he was watching me again. "You’re staying until I make all my wishes, right? You can’t leave me until then." He nodded, and I could tell, that now he was wondering what I was thinking.

The table disappeared and I nearly set my cup down on empty air. I glanced up at him in surprise, and found myself sitting on the bed, coffee cup still in hand.

"Could you at least warn me when you’re going to do that?" It was a shock to my system that I didn’t know how many more times I could take. It wasn’t that I minded being moved around like a rag doll, but a warning would have been nice. It came to me as I sat there, cup resting on my thigh, that I didn’t know what I was doing anymore.

When I had arrived in Istanbul I’d had a plan, but all of my plans seemed to have gone out the window with the opening of Heero’s bottle. I only had two weeks here, and yet all I wanted to do was stay in the hotel and find out more about my Djinni. It was a dilemma. Explore the city, or explore the Djinni. And I wondered if there was a way to do both.

"You can create things out of thin air." I said finally, stating it as a fact. "Can you also create clothing?" I held up a hand, fearing I might find myself wearing something I hadn’t been wearing moments before. "What I mean is, can you put something on that’s a bit less... " I gestured at his nearly see-through pants, which proceeded to change before my eyes into something infinitely less see-through. "Much better, how about a shirt?" His chest became covered in a tight black t-shirt that tucked itself into the khaki pants. "Shoes?" I looked at his feet to find he was already wearing a pair of sandals. Sandals? Well, I gave a mental shrug, whatever he was comfortable in.

Now there was only one problem left. No one I had ever seen had cobalt blue eyes like his, it was simply a color that did not exist in nature, or even in a contact. It was a cobalt blue to match a Vicks vapor rub jar, a blue that shimmered with an added edge of light.

"Do you know what sunglasses are?" And a pair of tiny oval lenses covered his eyes, though the strange glasses looked a century too old. I went to my backpack and dug out my own, holding them up for him to see. "Maybe some that look a little more like this?" He nodded, and the classic glasses changed slightly, became more Lennon-esque in style. I gave him a once over from head to toe. He looked about as human as he ever would. Though he still seemed to have a presence larger than his actual body. I shrugged; maybe it would keep the crowds away.

"That’ll have to do, now for my own clothing." I pulled out a t-shirt and jeans for the day. It took until I was about halfway to the bathroom to change, before I noticed I was holding my shorts and t-shirt, and wearing the clothes I had been holding moments beforehand. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

***

Heero was strangely silent as we walked among the stalls and people of the grand bazaar. It didn’t seem to hold the same excitement it had held for me before. Certainly, nothing about Istanbul had changed. It was what I had felt for the place that had shifted. After all, what was a mere exotic location, when I had Heero?

The sun was setting too quickly for my tastes, though I had in fact spent most of the day in bed. The day still seemed to have gone too fast. I turned my back on yet another stall selling rare Turkish items, and tugged Heero’s hand, pulling him back towards the hotel with me. I felt like I needed a shower and some relaxing. It was the Djinni; he made me nervous and excited all at once, unable to deal with things as I normally did. There was a solution, I knew there had to be, but what was it?

The hotel loomed before me and I stopped, still holding his hand in mine. I looked up at the windows, then back down at the street for a moment. I looked over and met Heero’s eyes through the dark glasses he still wore. "Tell me," I tugged him closer, until a few inches separated our faces in the gathering dusk. "When was the last time you went out to eat?"

***

I found us a restaurant overlooking the Bosphorous; the view over the darkened water was intense with its array of lights. Then I made the mistake of ordering a few bottles of wine with dinner. I don’t think it dulled the flavors in any way, but it did succeed in making me light headed for the rest of the evening. The first thing I ordered after the wine was a few mezes, or appetizers. In our case, it turned out to be stuffed vine leaves, pita with hummus and black olive spread, and some little pastries stuffed with various things.

Heero seemed to be enjoying the food thoroughly, and it made me wonder once again, exactly how much I might have misjudged him. It also made me question whether he had misjudged me in the same way. I’d been looking at him as a Djinni, not as a man. And perhaps he’d been seeing me as a mere human. "Tell me more about your life." I asked over the noise of the restaurant.

There was live entertainment going on during our meal, music and singing that rivaled any form of conversation. People seemed to be tipping the singer to stop singing. I pulled out a few bills just in case, and then turned my attention back towards Heero.

"What is it you want to know about it? Do you want to hear about my many masters? The years spent in the bottle?" He eyed one of the stuffed pastries -I still couldn’t be sure what was in them- then ate one, his eyes on my face.

"Right, well, I guess I just want to know more about you. I mean what’s inside your bottle? I’ve been dying to know." I went for another sip of wine. He didn’t attack the food; it was more like he wooed it. He wasn’t shoveling it in; it was hard to describe what exactly he was doing. It was like he hadn’t eaten in a long time, but still found he wasn’t hungry, and yet wanted to taste everything despite not being hungry.

"The bottle." He sneered, "the bottle is empty, even when I am in it." He leaned across the table and stared at me. "There is a reason I refer to it as oblivion. There is nothing inside that thing but death. When I am in there, I am dead. That is what is in the bottle." He ground out the last two words between clenched teeth.

This explained a few things, ok, it explained almost everything. "No wonder." I said softly, and leant back, downing the rest of my glass. What a hell he must live in. But not even the release a hell might give, just never ending oblivion and life. In some ways, it must have felt like reincarnation would; only you never changed, but everything else did. "Anything’s better than that huh?"

"Almost."

"What could be worse then death?"

"Life."

"But how? It’s not like you’re human. Do you feel pain? When you’re cut, do you bleed? There must be some sort of reason you constantly try to separate your existence from mine by calling me human, as if you’re different or better then I am."

"I bleed, I feel pain, emotions. The only difference I suppose, is that everything feels more distant. It’s as if I feel things through a wall."

I poured him a glass of wine and handed it to him, then poured another for myself. "What’s the point then? If you can’t ever feel anything fully?"

He leaned back across the table, glass in one hand. "To try and feel it. I will never know when the wall might fall and I can feel everything. So I must try all the time, it’s like a quest, an agenda, a mission I must deal with. The prize is completely feeling everything."

"But how?" It was like we were sharing some great secret. Nestled together at the table, speaking in whispers across it. "Have you ever managed to feel without your ‘wall’ before?"

"Oh yes, every few centuries. It’s as if I am being teased by the cosmos. Given a taste," He paused and carefully chose another pastry. "But never given the whole meal." He popped the little pastry into his mouth and chewed judiciously for a moment. "These are lamb by the way."

"Uh, thanks. I did wonder what they were." I picked up another vine leaf wrapped bundle. "I think these are just rice and spice. So in all of this quest or mission of yours, hasn’t anyone ever wanted to release you? Or help you out somehow?"

"No."

I blinked at him and nibbled. "Why not? You don’t seem so bad. I’m sure someone must have wanted you for their own at some point."

"They wanted me, but not for myself. They wanted me for sex, or a weapon, a tool merely for using. No one has ever wanted me for anything else."

For someone who proclaimed to feel things through a barrier, he sure did know how to look sad. If he did feel things only halfway, I could only imagine how much he was truly capable of feeling. "I like you."

He laughed. Outright threw his head back, and laughed at me. Tears streamed from his eyes he laughed so hard, and a few of the other patrons paused in their eating to watch us.

"I mean it!" I said earnestly, trying to stop that mirthless laughter.

"Y-you may mean it, but d-do you really?" He managed to gasp out.

I opened my mouth to respond that of course I did, when I stopped myself and thought over what he’d just asked. I had meant it, but did I like him because of what he could do for me? Or did I like him for himself? And was part of that liking because of his powers? There were just too many unanswerable questions. "I think I like you, because you are who you are."

He’d calmed down until only a few soft chuckles escaped, though his eyes over the sunglasses, seemed to sparkle with a hidden laughter. "Do you not want fame, fortune, and love? Do you not want what every human wants? Do you try and tell me that you are so different from the rest of the human race?"

"I have money, and I have fame, as for love, I’ll have that whenever it comes along. So, I don’t need what everyone else does, because I’ve already gone out and earned it for myself."

"Well, you are a more rare breed perhaps. So what do you wish for then?" He watched me over the rim of his wineglass, his lips still twitching.

"I wish... hey, don’t try and trick me like that!" I glared at him, gesturing with a bit of pita. "That was a dirty trick, I thought you weren’t going to try those on me?"

"Yes master." He nodded, that secret mirth still dancing in his eyes. "How do you have all the things that most people only dream of?"

It was an unexpected question. So far I had been the one to delve and dig, asking personal questions. One from him was something new. "I worked for them. I’m a writer."

"Of all those arts in which the wise excel, Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well." He quoted.

"Yes, I wouldn’t say I’m quite that good, but it has earned me what I wanted." I shrugged and glanced at my empty wineglass in surprise. I picked up the wine bottle and shook it mournfully, it was empty too. "It’s even earned me the right to get drunk in strange lands, do you see our waiter anywhere?"


	5. Chapter 5

I was dreaming, I knew I was. Sometimes you can just tell when it isn’t real, when it can’t be. This was one of those dreams.

I was floating in blackness, a cocoon of dark warmth. It was like space without the stars and vacuum, like free fall without the falling. The strange thing about it all, was that I could see myself, but couldn’t seem to see anything else, just that solid darkness wrapped around me. I knew it was a dream, but it felt so damned real.

When I finally decided that it was just an odd dream, it became odder still. My vision let me see something else, my hearing letting me listen to the sound they made. Long silken lengths of cloth descended, though how anything could descend in freefall... but these somehow did. The noise they made was the soft whispering of skin against skin, as they slid down from wherever they’d come from.

I watched in fascination as the soft cloth slid over my fingertips, and it was warm. It slid down my wrists, down my arms, and then tightened slightly. And I realized I was being held in place by those long silken, cloth tendrils. I wasn’t afraid though, I liked it. It felt comforting rather then confining, and there was something infinitely sensual about the feel of that warm cloth, like the touch of a person almost. Almost.

Dreams are some of the strangest things, they tell you what you truly are, what you truly desire. I wondered even as I was having this one, what it all meant. What was my subconscious trying to tell me? I had my answer soon enough.

More silken lengths of cloth came from below, wrapping around my feet and slithering up my ankles, sliding further until they had a firm grasp of my knees, then my thighs, then they tightened slightly. Bound, and still I had no fear of it. I knew it was a dream.

I lay, or floated, in that blackness forever, bound by those long silken strands, held in place for an eternity. That’s when I felt the hand. I couldn’t seem to see it though, just feel it.

It felt so incredibly real, just one finger to start, sliding across my cheek, then my nose, then down across my lips. I opened my mouth slightly and it tapped at my teeth, briefly touching my tongue. Then it slid down my neck, danced across my collarbone and slithered behind my head to brush over the fine hairs on the nape of my neck. I shivered, and the finger was suddenly a hand, a warm, firm hand, sliding down my back, and then brushing around my waist and over my stomach.

Another hand joined the first and both began traveling the length of my body, sliding around and over every curve and plane, until I was so aware of my own skin that I could barely concentrate on anything else. I was becoming desperate to feel the full warmth of the rest of that elusive body. I wanted to touch but couldn’t even see. I writhed inside my silk bindings, waiting for the rest. I knew there had to be more, I just hoped it wouldn’t be one of those dreams where you wake up right before the good part.

I knew it was a dream. And in dreams, you get a certain amount of control, usually. This dream wasn’t giving me any control; it was taking it all away instead.

When I felt the lips press against my neck I moaned, and wasn’t at all surprised when I didn’t hear it. It went on, all I felt for another eternity of torture were those warm lips and hands on my flesh, trailing soft paths, never lingering, just... brushing, caressing, almost a massage, or adoration. Like my body had become a temple, and those hands and that mouth were its flock.

What drove me nuts was the fact that both, while worshipping, never seemed to touch what I wanted to be touched most. In that respect, it was truly a dream, as only a dream could be that perverse. I could not move, couldn’t beg with my body for more, I could not even arch or wiggle, so firmly was I held. No sounds escaped my mouth, so I could not plead, I couldn’t see my invisible tormentor, so could not beg with my eyes. It was hell and heaven all in one.

I started to struggle, not because I didn’t like it, but because I wanted more of it. I tried to move, to roll, to rip the cloth from wherever it was attached to. I yelled, yelled into the empty void surrounding me, yelled at that invisible lover. That of course, is when I woke up. I knew it was dream. But what I hadn’t expected was that it was also real, in it’s own way.

Apparently, my hair had come undone while I slept, slipping out of its customary long braid. Then I had seemed to stretch or some such thing, and my hands had tangled in the mass of hair. Then I had rolled over, and twisted my legs in the sheets and blanket until I couldn’t move. The hands and mouth were real though. Because when I did eventually wake myself up with all my struggling, I found myself staring into a very blue, very stunning pair of eyes.

***

What I remember after the restaurant was being very drunk. I had started out with a nice buzz, munching away on the little snacks and drinking like there was no tomorrow. I don’t know why I wanted to be drunk so desperately, but I did. I think, or rather, I know, it was probably Heero that made me feel that way. I had to get away from my emotions somehow, and thought alcohol would do it for me. I didn’t bother to think about the fact that usually when one is drunk, alcohol does anything but dampen the emotions. So, I got completely bombed.

Of course the last thing you should probably do in a strange land, with even stranger company, is get drunk, but I’ve always liked to do things you’re not supposed to. I don’t know how I managed to pay for the meal and stagger out of the crowded restaurant and down the street. I know Heero helped me though. Because I very vividly remember stumbling at one point, and he held me just a little longer then necessary to keep me from falling down.

Somehow, we made it back to the hotel, I say we, but really, somehow I made it back. Heero never once seemed to show any sign of being drunk, though he’d help me down three bottles of wine. It just figured a Djinni would be able to hold his liquor and then some.

I remember purposely brushing against him as we climbed the stairs to my room, bumping into him when I didn’t have to as we walked through the door. I sat on the bed and pulled off my shoes, throwing them into a corner. I remember Heero standing in the middle of the room and just watching me, as if I were the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. I hadn’t cared though, and had stripped off my shirt and jeans without a thought, tossing them after my shoes. The next thing I knew, I was dreaming.

***

So it was back to waking up staring into the most exotic eyes I’d ever seen. My first thought ran along the lines of, "What the hell do you think you’re doing?" I also said it aloud and had the rare pleasure of watching the Djinn blush.

There I was, trussed up with him on top of me, his hands still resting against my skin, his mouth inches from mine. "I can’t wait for you to explain this." I said dryly, trying to wiggle my way out of the twisted sheets only to find they wouldn’t budge. Which was odd, usually a sheet would have eventually untucked itself and released me. Not to mention, since when had I ever gotten my arms so entangled in my own hair that I couldn’t move them? "You’ve done something, haven’t you?"

"Yes, but you seem to like it."

I stared at him; there wasn’t a shred of remorse in his voice, if anything he sounded pleased with himself. "How are you doing this?" suddenly, I wasn’t sure what I was asking, and he seemed to know it.

"I am merely holding you in place, it is you who want to be here."

"I don’t." Even to my own ears, it sounded like a pitiful denial. He knew it, I could tell just by the fact that he didn’t even bother to respond, he knew I was lying. "Why are you doing this?" I asked softly, watching his face.

He leaned down again, until his lips just brushed mine. "Because you want me to."

My head was whirling, and not with the after affects of the wine either. I felt dizzy with anticipation, nervous with the waiting. Then I realized I wasn’t drunk or hung over, which was strange all things considered. "I don’t know what I want."

"I do."

He chuckled, and I flinched back slightly when I felt his mouth so close to my own.

"Do I have to wish to make you stop? I mean we’ve just met; I’m not that fast a mover. Besides, you’re taking advantage of my condition."

His lips cruised over my neck and I closed my eyes, tilting my head back. All the denial in the world wasn’t going to help me; I liked it too much.

"What condition," He paused and lifted his head, "Master?"

"Oh god," It’s strange how that name comes to your lips so easily in these situations, "My drunk... I can’t feel it any more, but I know I should be drunk."

"You are not drunk." He smiled and shifted down again, rubbing against my body through the sheets that wrapped and bound me.

"I... I should be." I couldn’t think, I knew there was a reason I wanted to stop him, a reason this was all wrong. Too fast. Too much. But I didn’t care. "What are you doing to me?"

"Only what you want."

"I don’t want this."

Pitiful, that’s what I was. Because I did want it, wanted him, I didn’t care that I had only known him for two days; I wanted him just the same. My Djinni. All mine. "You’re taking advantage of... " I stopped as his tongue ran a line down the side of my neck, "Oh god... "

"Taking advantage of you?" He lifted himself onto his elbows and grinned down at me, grinding his hips against mine. My body betrayed me completely by thrusting back against him. "Yes, I can tell you do not want this."

He was smirking at me, and I flushed, closing my eyes against the sight. My hands clenched inside the confines of my own hair. He was doing something to it to make it keep me bound, though what I couldn’t say.

"Release me?"

"No." His mouth made another assault on my neck. "I have you right where I want you, human." He laughed softly and bit down on my shoulder. "If you really want me to stop, wish for it."

I could feel the bones of his pelvis; the heat of his groin pressed against me, he smiled again and rolled his hips.

"That’s playing... dirty... god stop that... I can’t think."

"Wish for me to stop." He murmured, and I felt the curve of his lips as he kissed me.

If I had thought I couldn’t concentrate before, the feel of his mouth against mine undid me completely. But then I suppose after a few thousand years of life, you learn how to do everything extremely well.

Djinn are masters of the unexpected, at least this one was. And the one thing I never expected was for him to stop. He’d seemed so intent, as if nothing but a wish would set him away from his course. I had given up on changing his mind; my own having been turned to jelly when he’d kissed me. I was surprised to hear myself say "No," when he pulled away, the sheets wrapping around my legs suddenly becoming loose, my hair releasing my hands.

The funny thing... was that all that time I had thought I’d woken up from my dream. Only, when I opened my eyes, Heero was standing by the window, watching the dawn. Had it all been merely a dream?

I shook my head, and found to my vast horror that I had a hangover the size of a large country; it hadn’t been there a few moments ago. It must have been a dream. It’s just, usually you know when it’s a dream and when’s it’s real. And there, on my shoulder, when I stumbled to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, there was a faint imprint of teeth. Apparently, I was having dreams with bite.


	6. Chapter 6

A shower cleared up most of my hangover and headache, and food helped it disappear completely. Three hours after I woke up from my strange dreams, I was feeling nearly normal again. Though, I did wonder. If the bite had been real, what else had been? And Heero wasn’t exactly acting normal, whatever that was. As a matter of fact, he was acting more unusual then his usual unusual behavior. What better way to try to forget everything, then to go out and act like a tourist? So, that’s what I did.

Slipping into an old pair of jeans and a tank top, I grabbed my Djinni and headed for the Topkapi Palace. It’s a large, extremely complex structure built on the edge of the Bosphorous, The Golden Horn, and the Sea of Marmara. For about five dollars, you can get a tour through it, and for three dollars more, you can visit the Harem. Though no one lives in the palace anymore, it was still utterly fascinating.

How to sum up a place that magnificent in just a few words? Tiles, wealth, opulence, gold. Because everywhere you looked, this place showed those things with each turn and twist.

While standing and looking at the complex tile work of one of about a hundred rooms, I suddenly had a strange vision. It was like a memory of something that had never happened.

I was listening vaguely to chatter around us, admiring the structural design and space of the room. Heero was standing off to one side, and I glanced at him.

He’d changed his outfit some, and now wore dark jeans and a dark shirt to match, the colors blending in with his equally midnight hair and making him appear all in all, like a shadow with golden skin. He didn’t appear to be paying attention to anything but his own thoughts, and it felt familiar somehow. Like déjà vu only... different.

I sidled up to him, poking him in the side and smiling when he frowned at me over the top of his sunglasses. I had to make him wear them; his eyes were just too startling for the average person. "You look like you’re thinking too hard. What’s occupying your thoughts so much, hmm?"

He’d had the same far off look when he was looking out the window at the hotel. That aura of history that crawled over him at those times.

He didn’t answer right away, instead staring at the intricate tile work without seeing it. Our tour group was leaving the room, and I lagged behind, finding the sharp angles of Heero’s features much more interesting then any tour could ever be.

Without thinking, I reached out and trailed my hand down one of those flawless cheeks. "What do you think about when you get that look? Are you remembering things? Are you just... going faraway?"

He looked startled for a moment, jerking his head back from my touch. "You ask too many questions." He growled.

"Maybe I do, but isn’t it part of my wish that you tell me about yourself? Don’t you have to? So tell me what I want to know." I grinned at him, showing my teeth a little too much.

I was feeling angry I admit. I knew he’d messed with me somehow, and I didn’t like it. He hadn’t said anything to me about those dreams, if they were dreams, and I wasn’t going to ask. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to ask other questions. In a way, it was my try at getting back at him for it all. "So tell me what you think about when you get all quiet like that."

He glared at me for a while; I think he was trying to intimidate me. I kept smiling. Smiling, can be such a good defense against things, it can melt hearts, or make people think you know something you don’t, it can make you feel confident in the face of the enemy, or make you a popular friend to have. So, I smiled at him, and he cracked.

"I think about the many dawns I have seen, the cities I have seen, and the person...people I have known."

Now that had been an interesting slip. What person? He’d changed it to people, but there had been someone, someone he’d really loved. Curiouser and curiouser. I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow. "There was someone you just can’t forget huh?"

It made me jealous to think about it. The idea that he’d loved someone so much, that over the centuries he couldn’t forget this person. I glanced around the beautiful room, it must have been for a special concubine of the harem, the tile was everywhere, gold and green. For a moment, it seemed familiar somehow, and then the sensation was gone.

"Let’s get out of here." I said finally, feeling an unaccountable shiver go down my spine. "Lunch is calling my name."

When I looked at him, his eyes were half lidded, and contemplative. He snagged my arm and tugged me close, and I got the feeling that he towered over me again, even though we were nose to nose. "What do you see when you look at these rooms? Do they look familiar? Do you feel as if you have been here before?" His voice had a note of urgency in it that was unfamiliar coming from him.

Without warning another vision swarmed over my mind, and I saw myself draped in silks and filmy gauze lounging in this room, gesturing to a shadow to come closer. There was a golden collar around my neck and the emerald silks that slid over my skin matched the greens of the tiles. I shook my head and it faded, melting into the back of my brain like... a memory... or a dream.

"I’ve probably just seen it in pictures, I’ve never been here before." I shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant in the face of this sudden feeling of familiarity. "Let’s go get some lunch, I think your Djinni self is feeling homesick or something."

I took advantage of the hand he still had on my arm, and tugged him from the room. Trying not to break into a run as we left it.

***

"Heero do you sleep?" We were sitting on the plaza steps, watching the crowds and listening to the tumult of the people around us. I’d paid about one American dollar for a giant kebab of fish and vegetables, and sat nibbling bits of it off. Heero had gotten a pastry baked with cheese and herbs.

"I sleep, but I do not have to."

"Do you ever dream when you sleep?"

He choked and started to flush a dull red behind the tan of his face. "No, no I never dream." He said quickly, and took a large bite of his pastry, turning his head to watch a veiled figure walk past.

I smiled at his profile, and then outright grinned. "You know Heero, you don’t have to admit anything. I know you had something to do with whatever happened last night." I watched as his eyes went wide behind the oval lenses of his sunglasses, and nodded at him. "I’m not stupid, and you’re not as unknowable as you might imagine."

I scooted closer to him until our hips touched, then leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I don’t know why you did it, and I don’t care. But if you ever mess with my head like that again, I swear to god I’ll throw that bottle with you in it, into the darkest, deepest pit I can find." I leaned back and beamed at him, taking another bite of my kebab.

He had a horrified look on his face that made me want to laugh. I’d gotten to him that time, and it felt great.

"You are the first human who has ever seen through the illusion to the reality behind it all." He said softly, and looked like he was nearly in awe.

Unable to control it, I laughed. Patting his arm and leaning close once again. "I promise I’ll try not to startle you so much, if... "

"If what?" His eyes narrowed.

"If you give me a bite of your pastry, it looks really good. I’ll even share my kebab if you do."

He smiled at me then, and I knew we were finally coming to understand each other.

***

By the time we had walked back to our hotel, my feet were killing me. I like to walk, just not for eight hours at a time. After lunch, we’d gone for a stroll along one of the main thoroughfares, talking occasionally about the architecture or people as we passed them by. The sun began to set and I had realized just how long we’d been walking.

The relief of taking off my shoes when we got back to the hotel was so great, I felt like moaning. I collapsed back onto the bed, rolling around for a moment and stretching. It was so nice to be, if not home, then at least comfortable. Heero sat down on the foot of the bed, and I smiled at him. "Would you do me a favor Heero?"

He nodded and my smile widened. "Get me a cold, wet washcloth from the bathroom, please? My feet are aching like there’s no tomorrow. I think it was that last mile that did it."

While he went off to do that, I closed my eyes, and thought of that harem room again. Why had it looked so familiar? And why was that disturbing? Most importantly, how had Heero known what I had felt in that room? My left foot was picked up and lain down again on a warm lap. I opened my eyes to find Heero grabbing my other foot and laying it beside the first. "You don’t have to...aaahh... "

There is nothing better then a cold, wet washcloth rubdown on tired, sore feet. I nearly purred when he dug his thumbs into my arches, sending a jolt of pure pleasure and pain straight up my spine. In some ways, a decent foot rub can be better than sex. Judging by the expert handling of my feet, Heero knew that. I couldn’t help the steady stream of little moans I gave as he deftly stroked all the pain from my aching feet, gradually he moved up my legs, his hands feeling so good, I couldn’t have stopped him if I tried.

When you’re in this kind of situation, it’s hard to concentrate on things you should and shouldn’t do. It’s especially hard to focus on the things that come out of your mouth when someone is rubbing all the will to move out of your muscles. So when he started asking questions in a soft, almost lilting tone of voice, I answered.

"What did you think of the Palace?" He murmured, grinding the palm of his hand deep into the back of my calf.

"Mmm, very nice, lots of gold... oohh, right there... " His fingers manipulated the tendons running up the back of my legs for a moment. I was melting into the bed, turning into a puddle of satisfied master.

"What did you think of the harem rooms?"

I squirmed for a moment as his hands worked their way back down my legs. "Aahhmmm... Nice... opulent... "

He rolled me over onto my stomach and slipped his hands up under my shirt, the protest dying on my lips as his fingers found every nerve and hit them all at once. I moaned loud and long, loving every minute of it. People would pay a couple hundred bucks an hour for massages like this.

"Do you wonder why you recognized that room?"

I groaned as his hands found another sore spot and worked at it. "Yeah... I wish I knew ... why it... Ahh...looked so familiar... " His hands stopped moving and I moaned in displeasure. It took a few moments for my mind to catch up with what I’d just said. "Oh no... "

"Your wish is my command."

I turned just in time to see the triumphant smile on his face, right before the hotel room vanished from around me.


	7. Chapter 7

I found the back of someone’s hand smacking into my head as my vision cleared. I winced and looking down, noticed I was laying face first on a tile floor. I looked up once more and was struck for it again. This was definitely an odd situation, so I chose not to try to look up again. But the brief glimpse I’d gotten of the room had told me where I was.

I was in one of the many chambers of the Topkapi Palace. What had me worried was that no one lived there anymore, so who the hell had just hit me?

As I was lying prostrate on the cool tiles, I noticed something else. My clothes had changed. This time it wasn’t déjà vu and I knew it, it was real. I was wearing a pale green silk caftan; my feet bare, and pressed against the floor. And around my neck, warmed from my skin, was what I knew to be a golden choker with an intricate clasp at the front of it.

I heard voices approaching and peeked out of the corner of my eyes at the feet of the oncoming group. Lying spread out along the tiles like so many sheered corn stalks, lay the concubines. There were hundreds of them, and they were all lying face first on the floor just like I was. I dared to glance up at the faces of the group of people approaching, and saw Heero.

Only he looked different. He was big again, like he had been when he’d first come out of the bottle, a giant among mortals. His clothes were different as well. He was wearing a long dark robe of the blackest midnight hue, his amazing cobalt eyes glaring out from beneath his hair. Beside him walked a man dressed in a gold and orange caftan, and I recognized him too, from the paintings of the various sultans of the palace.

I realized I was staring and quickly dropped my eyes back to the floor, trying to control my breathing. What the hell had happened? What was I doing in the palace in the fifteenth century? And most importantly, why was I laying face first amongst a bunch of concubines?

As the group got steadily closer to me, I finally noticed they were not speaking in English, and why would they be? This wasn’t the movies, and I didn’t speak a word of whichever language this happened to be. My Istanbul knowledge extended to remembering what a few of the sultans looked like perhaps, but did not extend to remembering what languages were spoken during which centuries. So, what they were speaking was complete gibberish.

It was really a shame, because whatever they were talking about involved me, somehow. I didn’t know it until a hand grabbed me by the back of my caftan and yanked me to my feet. I looked up into the eyes of Heero, and someone, a guard most likely, smacked me. That was really starting to get tiresome.

Then, I made the mistake of opening my mouth. "Who the hell do you think you are!? And you Heero!" I jerked away from the sudden grabbing of hands that tried to hold me back. "Just who the hell do you think you are!?" I jabbed him in the stomach. "I don’t know what kind of joke this is Heero, but you better damn well send me back right now!"

By this time, everyone was looking at me; I trailed off and glanced around at the startled faces. Then a guard grabbed me by the hair and threw me back down to the floor. My head hit the tiles and everything started to get hazy. I heard a rapid conversation go on between Heero and the sultan, and then, everything went black.

***

When I woke up it was to find myself in that room, the green and gold tiled room I had stood in earlier with Heero. During the tour... it came to me in a flash that this wasn’t a tour, and I was really in the palace, and as a concubine apparently. I sat up, and pain shot into my head in an instant. Those tiles had been hard and very unforgiving.

It was time for thinking, and all I could think about was the throbbing in my skull. I lay back down on the large circular bed and stared up at the ceiling. All right, first off, I knew for a fact that men were not allowed in the harem, unless certain things were missing. I was pretty sure I still had all of my... equipment, so what was I doing in the harem? Second off, what was Heero doing here and why was he with the sultan? And why had I been in a line of concubines? And what was with all the hitting?

My mind remained in turmoil, and I rolled over to lie on my stomach. It brought back memories of what had been happening right before all this had started. The massage, Heero’s odd questions. He’d known, he’d known all along that I had been here before. And he’d known because he was here, in this time and in this place.

It took a few moments to sink in, that he’d known me all along and had never let it slip. I would have bet my life, that from the time he had come out of that bottle, he’d recognized me.

"How do you know my name?"

I sat up in an instant, and turned around to find Heero standing in the doorway and staring at me. Without thinking, I jumped off the bed and did an immediate nose-dive back onto the bed. My head had been hurt a little worse then I’d first thought.

I groaned into the silk covers and closed my eyes, trying not to throw up. This was a bad sign, this was practically medieval times, and I had what might be a very serious concussion.

I felt myself being rolled over and stared up into the electric eyes of my Djinni. No, not mine, not here. Here he was someone else’s. "Heero," My voice sounded pitifully weak, "My head hurts."

His hand brushed back my bangs and over the numb knot of flesh on my forehead. Then just like that, my head felt fine. The headache and pain were completely gone. I gingerly reached up and patted my head, nothing there but smooth skin. "Oh god, that’s so much better. Thanks Heero. Why the hell did that guard have to hit me so hard?"

"How do you know my name, human?"

I blinked up at him; his eyes were dark and stormy in the dim room. "Duo, and you told it to me. But I think the important question is... what the hell am I doing here?" I tried to sit up and he pushed me back down to the bed, keeping a hand in the middle of my chest.

"You were almost put to death by the sultan for being with the women of the harem. I talked him out of it." He said rather smugly.

I gaped at him, "Put to death? Isn’t that a little extreme?"

"No. The sultan is possessive of his concubines, and was upset to find a male amongst them. You are very lucky to be alive. What do you mean I told you my name? I have never told a living soul that name before."

"Well you told me. And I told you my name was Duo, not human." I tried to sit up again and he shoved me right back down.

"Stay, I would understand your purpose."

"My purpose?" I looked up at him and growled out, "I don’t have a flipping purpose. All I did was wish to know why this place looked familiar, and the next thing I know I’m here. And you tricked me into wishing for it! And being a concubine had nothing to do with my wish!"

"You wished?" He frowned down at me, and lifted his hand from my chest, finally allowing me to sit up.

"Yes, I wished, and you granted that wish with a very smug smile. You knew I was coming here." I shook my head and stared down at the sheets, "Bastard."

"One cannot be a bastard if one was never born." He said.

"How about an asshole?"

He blinked at me. "Asshole? How can one be an... asshole?"

"Very easily, all you have to do is lie a lot, and trick people, and... and... " He was staring at me. I met his eyes, and frowned. "What?"

He reached out and fingered the golden collar around my neck. "All property of the sultan must wear this collar. That is what the sultan did not understand about you. How a male could have gotten into the harem and also have gotten a collar. I do not know if he will like that somehow this was my doing."

"Well at least you’re not the one wearing it. I really don’t like this Heero, send me back."

"I cannot. I was not the one to do this to you."

"But you... " No, he hadn’t been the one, and yet he had. It had been the Heero of the future that had put me here. "I’m trapped here forever?" And for the first time since arriving in this place, I grew afraid.

"No, I know myself. I would not have sent you to the past without allowing you to come back. Unless of course you die here." He shrugged.

"Don’t you dare threaten me Heero, or I’ll... " I stopped, I would what? Wish him somewhere? He wasn’t my Djinni here, wishing would do me no more good than prayer. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. "Tell me something please?"

"Yes?"

"Here... you’re not my Djinni here, are you? You’re the sultan’s."

He nodded, and I slithered down to lay my head on the slick coverlets. "At least now, you won’t call me master."

***

Heero explained to me while I lay there in a semi-stupor. I think I was in shock, but then who wouldn’t be when they suddenly find themselves in the past? He explained that he’d begged for my life, which I found hard to believe but never the less had to.

He told me, that as he and the sultan had walked among the concubines, the sultan had spotted me because I kept lifting my head. So that by the time they’d gotten to me, the sultan wanted to see my face. Then they’d found out I was male, and the sultan had wanted me dead.

Apparently, Heero argued long and hard, and eventually got the right to keep me for himself, seeing as how the sultan didn’t like men for concubines and treasured his Djinni. At this point in Heero’s explanation, I held up a hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"Did you just say," I swallowed, trying to clear my unexpectedly dry throat. "Did you just say you own me now?" I did my best at an incredulous look.

He smiled at me, and leaned close, too close. "Yes."

I couldn’t believe the nervous giggle that escaped my mouth. I inched back on the bed, trying to put some distance between us. I smiled, I couldn’t think of anything else to do. "Then I’m... your concubine?"

"Yes."

His concubine, and he wasn’t my Djinni, how unfair could you get? "But... I don’t have any formal training." I tried lamely.

"I am sure you will be a very fast learner."

I scooted back some more, and nearly slipped off the bed. "That’s good of you to say, but really, I uh, I don’t think I will. I’ve never been good at... mmph" He kissed me. Damn him. I found it extremely hard to concentrate on anything when he did that.

All protestations died on my lips as his hands circled around behind my neck and brought my head closer. His tongue slid out and licked at my mouth, slipping inside for a brief invasion. I barely noticed I was being eased back onto the bed, until he slid a leg between my own and ground upwards with it. I broke away from him, pulling my head back and gasping for air. My heart was going a mile a minute and my clothes suddenly felt too tight for comfort. "Hh-hold on there for a second." I put a hand over his mouth and sat up a little.

He started to nibble on my fingers and I jerked my hand away, inching back and falling off the bed. I jumped up off the floor and ran for the doorway. I don’t know what I was thinking, except for the fact that he was definitely too large for me. The Heero of the future I could deal with, at least he was willing to be my size. But this one, I just had a feeling he wouldn’t.

I was out the door and halfway down the hallway before he caught me. It was bound to happen; after all, he had certain advantages. I punched at him as he grabbed me around the waist and hefted me over his shoulder to bounce like a sack of flour. "I can’t do this!" I yelled at him, kicking at him. Then he threw me back down on that damned circular bed again.

He didn’t say anything, merely lifting an eyebrow and smirking down at me. The word bode came to mind, as in, this did not bode well. I was right, because the next thing I knew I was completely naked and listening to the sound of silk slithering across the bed towards me. Magic, is a very unfair advantage to have.

It was just like the dream had been; only this time I knew it was all too real. The silk slid over my fingers and toes, and it was cold and slick. It wrapped around me and slithered to my shoulders and thighs, then stopped and tightened. This time I wasn’t blinded by darkness, and could see exactly what was going on.

"You should not have run, now I do not think I can trust you." He smiled at me and sat on the bed, leaning over to look into my eyes. "Do you know what I am going to do to you?"

"No." I could have made a few guesses, but I had a feeling anything I could imagine wouldn’t even compare to what he could do. He ran a fingertip along my jaw, leaning over to nuzzle my neck.

"Good, it will be so much more enjoyable if you do not know what is going to happen."

He opened his mouth against my neck and I shivered as his warm breath drifted over my skin, his teeth lightly grazing. His hands slid up my waist and then down again, it felt like he was caressing every muscle in my body just with that touch.

"Tell me something," He whispered near my ear, his tongue flicking out to trail briefly over the rim of it. "Have you made love with me yet?"

I knew immediately what he meant. His hand drifted down my stomach, resting lightly on my abdomen. "Nn-no, no. I haven’t."

"Wonderful, it is pleasant to know that I will have you first." His fingers danced lower, feathering lightly over my growing erection before sliding back up my stomach. I closed my eyes, unable to help the small moan that escaped.

That’s when someone started knocking on the door, shouting in whatever language it was I’d heard earlier. Heero growled and sat up, glancing at me before snarling something at whoever it was. There was a pause, and what sounded like a mumbled apology from the other side of the door, and then Heero turned back to me.

"I am going to leave you here, there is something I must attend to."

My mouth dropped open. "You’re going to leave me?" I looked at my bindings, "in these?"

"Yes, then I will not have to worry that you will try to escape again." He grinned at me and stood up, running his eyes over my body before turning and heading for the door.

"Wait! What if I have to scratch my nose? What if I get cold? What if you die and I’m stuck like this forever!" The door slammed on my last words, and I slumped back, closing my eyes. I just had to buy that bottle didn’t I?


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up to one of the weirdest things. Someone was scratching my nose. I opened my eyes and saw Heero sitting next to me, a patient look on his face, and I started to laugh. Then choked on my laughter as I realized I was still naked and bound with silk.

Heero was naked too, which was certainly no laughing matter. Without even thinking about it, I glanced down at his lap... and kept looking. I think my mouth fell open somewhere along the line, because eventually I felt his hand on my jaw closing it. He lifted my chin and met my eyes, smirking. "You’re not serious?" I asked him, my voice cracking halfway through the question.

He nodded, his smirk growing larger. "Do you think this," he gestured downwards, "is a laughing matter?"

My eyes followed his hand and I felt my cheeks grow hot. I cleared my throat a few times trying to find my voice. "No, umm, I don’t think I would laugh at," I nodded my head at his lap, "that. I uh... I don’t think I... mmph." He smothered my next feeble objections with his lips. After a few seconds he eased back a bit, and his mouth became a light teasing thing, trailing over my own, barely touching, then becoming firm and hard once more.

I forgot there was a reason I didn’t want this to happen. Apparently, the skill he’d had with kissing in the future hadn’t changed a bit. He was exceptional at it, past, present, or future.

He slid his hands underneath me and lifted. For a moment, I thought my arms would be ripped from their sockets by the silk holding me down. But instead, the smooth cloth gave way, and he pulled me into a sitting position, his lips never leaving mine. The silk wrapping around my legs loosened as well, and I pulled my knees in.

Kneeling up, I wound my arms around his neck, letting his tongue slide into my mouth and explore. He tasted like something sweet and spicy all at once, some odd combination, almost like oranges and nutmeg, or clover honey and cinnamon. I couldn’t seem to get enough of him, crawling up onto his lap and delving my fingers through his hair, tugging him closer. I’d never kissed someone before who was like a feast; I’d never understood how you could want to feed at someone’s mouth like a great banquet. Yet, all I wanted to do was get more of the flavor of him, devour him whole.

His hands slipped down my back, cupping me and lifting my body so that I was plastered against him. It felt so good, he was smooth, and hot, and smelled and tasted extraordinary. His hands were kneading my flesh, stroking up and down my back and rear. Why did I ever try to resist, when it felt this good? Then I remembered as I became aware of that hard, searing length of him pressed against my belly. "Oh god."

I broke off from kissing him, and leant back, looking at his face, then dropping my eyes lower, resting on what was definitely coming between us. "Oh god," I said again, "I can’t do this Heero, I can’t." I shook my head, and glanced back up at him to see his expression.

His eyes were half shut, brooding. His mouth set in a sexy little smile, I got the feeling no matter what I said, it wouldn’t make a difference. I was right.

"Hmmm," he murmured, and leant forward, trailing his mouth down my neck and over my shoulder. "I would not hurt you."

"Ahhh... " I managed, as his lips went softly down my chest, his hands pushing me back onto the bed. "You might not hurt me," I reached a hand between us, boldly tugging on his arousal. "But this thing will."

He leaned up onto his elbows and stared at me for a moment, I let go of him and blushed. "Tell me something," he said, "Have you ever been with *anyone*?"

I could feel my face get hotter; I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "No."

He shifted on the bed, and I opened my eyes to watch him. His eyebrows were drawn slightly together, mouth pursed in a small frown. "What have you done then?"

This was an odd conversation to be having, considering the position we were in. He was kneeling between my legs, his elbows holding him above me. I tilted my head, giving him a dubious look. "That’s kind of a private thing, don’t you think?"

"No, you are mine, I would know what experiences you have had." His head dipped lower and he licked a path down my neck.

"Uhhhn... not much... I’ve always been... mmm...too busy." His fingers pinched lightly at one nipple while his mouth nipped at the other. I felt my legs spread wider, a warm feeling traveling from his touch straight to my already, painfully hard erection. He looked up from his task and met my eyes.

"How much, is not too much?" Then he was sliding down, hands circling my waist as his lips smiled and slipped around me, taking me into that delicious warmth. I arched into him, moaning and forgetting about his question. Until he stopped and lifted his head, tilting it to one side.

"Well?" His fingers toyed with the tip of my aching shaft, teasing.

"Kissing... aaahh... that’s all..."

He smiled at me, his fingers sliding lightly up and down. " *Is* that all?" He wrapped his mouth around me again, tongue swirling.

"I’ve... I can’t think when you do... that... " He started to hum; sending jolts through my body that had me beating my heels against the bed. "Oh god! I’ve done it myself!" He stopped and I collapsed back onto the bed, moaning softly into the silks.

"Done it yourself? What do you mean?"

"I’ve," I took a deep breath, "I’ve done it myself, to myself. You know?" My heart started to slow again, and I opened my eyes, glancing down at him where he lay between my legs. That wasn’t a wise move, since the sight of him toying with me and smiling with that sexy little smirk, nearly had me moaning again.

"I have never done things to myself like that." He looked curiously up at my face, then down at my arousal. "Show me."

I choked, "Shh-show you? It’s kind of a private thing, I’ve never... aaaahh" His mouth came down again, unrelenting in its beautiful abuse. I felt myself near the edge of orgasm, ready to explode, and then he stopped again.

"If you do not show me," He purred in a quiet voice, "then I will bind you and leave you here." It wasn’t a threat; it was like he was simply stating something that would happen, regardless of how I felt about it.

My hand obeyed, and slid down my stomach. I kept my eyes on his face as my fingers brushed past his and wrapped around my length. He smiled, and sat up, spreading my legs further. I watched as a small glass bottle appeared in his hand. His gaze never leaving me, he pulled the tiny cork out and poured something into his cupped palm.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the growing roar of the blood beating inside my head and drowning out all thought. Heero’s hand engulfed my own, stopping me for a brief instant. Then I felt his mouth, sucking forcefully on the tip, drawing hoarse shouts from my lips. My hand stayed moving only because he kept it going, not letting me stop.

I clutched at his hair with my free hand, and he obligingly opened his mouth further, keeping constant pressure and tightness as he slid down. Releasing my trapped hand, he raised my legs slightly, and rubbed slick fingers across my entrance. His tongue and mouth were doing amazing things that had me gasping and grabbing two fistfuls of his hair, trying to anchor myself to the earth through touch alone.

The first slippery finger that entered was mildly uncomfortable, but quickly became just another sensation among my already overloaded senses. The second finger hurt momentarily, then it too became one of a multitude of sensations battering at me. When the third slick digit penetrated my body, I spilled into his mouth, crying out to the tiled ceiling. Still he didn’t stop, relentlessly driving his fingers into me as he swallowed. He crawled up my body, and started nuzzling my chest like a great cat, virtually purring in satisfaction.

For some reason, the only word that would come to my lips was. "Please." Over and over again, moaned softly, or shouted at him like an order.

The fourth finger that slipped inside of me was my final undoing. It also brought with it two more words to my suddenly depleted vocabulary.

"Please...Heero... god... ahhh... please... " I gasped out over the harsh sounds of my own breathing. The loss of those filling digits was so great I bit my lip, breaking the skin in my effort not to cry out. But I need not have worried, if I had known what was coming next.

He’d been careful so far, despite the sheer amount of his hand that he’d managed to work inside my body, it hadn’t hurt for long. The extremely large cock that bumped against my entrance next, however, hurt like hell as it started to slide in.

It was a long, slow process, a ceaseless journey with no apparent end in sight. He’d slipped between my legs, lifting them up so that the backs of my knees were touching his shoulders. His right arm circled my thighs, holding them against his chest, as with his other hand he held my hip, pulling our bodies slowly together. My fingers clutched at the bed uselessly, finding no purchase on the slippery silk.

He paused for a time, stroking my thighs and stomach, sliding his hand around my regained erection. I opened my eyes and was kept in thrall by his stare, pure lust, and purely shocking, cobalt blue. It filled my mind almost as much as he was beginning to fill my body.

It stopped hurting after that. His gaze taking over my universe, becoming all I was able to see. So much so, that when he began sliding deeper I barely noticed, and when he stopped again, all I wanted was to sob for something, anything more.

For a time, nothing moved in the room, the only sound my gasping, and his low whispers in a strange language. I started to hear my heart beating inside, then I felt his heartbeat, and it was inside me as well. Every nerve felt as if it were gathered wherever he touched me, like a fire springing up after a pass of lightning.

He whispered again in that odd liquid language, his eyes growing soft, as they stayed focused on mine.

"In english Heero." I thought to ask even as he pulled his hips back slightly, leaving me panting.

He slid in again, answering me. "Love," his hips swiveled and moved back, "the feel of you," and he pulled back a bit more, "incredible... " he moaned as he pushed in deeper then before, wringing an answering groan from my lips.

Shifting a little, he changed the angle and slid out of my body almost completely. "Pleasure," he thrust back in, hard and fast, "is all," his hips swiveled, and I clawed at the bed. "You will ever feel."

My mouth went slack, body going rigid and then trembling as he suddenly hit something inside of me, sliding against it, grinding me into the bed with the building force of each thrust. A long unwinding scream began coalescing within my throat, easing out of my mouth as nothing more than a shallow breath. "Heero... "

He groaned, gently slipping my legs off his shoulders and lifting me up to straddle his lap. Blackness licked at the edge of my vision with the new position, I felt like I was being slowly, and methodically split into two. The term ‘having your brains fucked out’ drifted across my mind, as his hands gripped my hips and sped up the pace.

His lips found mine, tongue plunging inside, tasting my moans as much as I tasted his. Our cries escalated with each movement, the gradual build up became a wave ready to break. I wound my arms around him, scratching long furrows down his back. It got to the point where I didn’t know how much more I could take, and that’s when the silk slithered around from behind me and started stroking my erection.

I think it might have seemed more strange, if it hadn’t felt so good. That slick cloth gliding up and down on me like a living thing, leaving my hands free to bury themselves into Heero’s thick mane of hair and just feel each thrust and piston.

I found myself crooning into his ear, begging, pleading, moaning, panting. I wasn’t even aware of what I was saying, only able to feel him all around me, inside of me. That shuddering breathless sensation flooded over me again, and I knew I wouldn’t survive it. The silk wrapping around me tightened, giving one final upstroke and I came, coating our stomachs and moaning so loudly I thought I’d break something with my voice alone. Every muscle in my body clenched, tightening for an eternal second, long enough to drag Heero along with me. His loud groan of pleasure was a delight to hear, except I wasn’t in any condition to delight, as I collapsed against him.

His mouth found mine again; gentle this time, grazing my lips softly before parting them, his tongue soothing and sweet. To my amazement, I found myself growing hard once more.

He pulled back, chuckling against my lips. "Mmm, my beautiful human. I see you are ready for more," He pumped his hips once, twice, and then rocked them a little. "But you should not over extend yourself."

I closed my eyes, hiding my face against his neck, biting my lip as he kept up that gentle, swinging motion. I thought I was hallucinating when I felt warm water slip over my legs and up my chest. I opened my eyes and found that we’d moved to a bathing room. The large tiled pool empty except for us. Sighing in contentment, I relaxed against his chest, curling my arms around his neck and smiling into his shoulder.

After a few moments, I realized he was still leisurely thrusting, starting that rolling sensation all over again, sending little waves splashing around the pool. "I thought you said I shouldn’t over extend myself?" I gasped against him.

"You should not, but I will let you."

"God, you’re such a smug bastard."

"And you talk too much, perhaps I should be filling some other part of you?"

My eyes popped open and I leant back, drawing groans from both our mouths. "If you think I’ll... mmph... " I could feel him smirk even as he kissed me.


	9. Chapter 9

I spent three months in the Topkapi Palace in the fifteenth century, and fell in love with it. The sultan had decided that since I was Heero’s property, then Heero would take the blame if I defiled any of the concubines. It worked out for me so that I was allowed to roam the harem, and make friends.

It was something to do while I waited for Heero. In this way, I truly was one of the harem. I waited for my master to come to me, and it was what filled my mind for most of the day. This way of thinking had gradually become like breathing to me. It just was.

Possibly, it was because no one could remain themselves when in a world so outlandishly different from their own. I was no longer Duo Maxwell; I was the Demon Concubine of the Sultan’s Djinn. It was quite a title to uphold.

After my first few nights with Heero, I realized that I liked what we did together. No, I loved it; I craved it like an addictive drug. I had to have more of it, and it was never enough. It got to the point where I would wait in that green and gold tiled room. Just sit and wait for him to come to me. I didn’t care that I was being silly, acting like a lovesick fool. I wanted him.

I forgot about the world I’d come from, what I had left behind. There was no point in thinking about it, if I never knew when I’d be seeing it again. Though, sometimes I would laugh late at night, thinking about the fact that I was the only American alive at that time. America hadn’t even been settled yet, and there I was a full-fledged, made in the USA American, in Istanbul. It was enough to make me laugh to the point of breaking. And it was at these times I realized that Heero was more then what I had thought he was. Because he understood.

***

I’d been in the palace nearly a month when I decided to do something. I had feeling if I didn’t go with this strange urge, time might not like it. I knew, that those visions I’d had when I’d been on the tour were real. At some point, I would be in that emerald silk. The problem was, where to find it? The harem was a vast place, and I had gotten to know it very well.

The women found me fascinating, one of the few males they had ever been allowed to be around that still had all his genitalia. At first they were afraid of me, thinking perhaps it was trick of some sort, or maybe I was just another type of eunuch, though a few thought I was merely an odd looking woman. Then they gradually flocked around me, exclaiming over me like a new toy.

They played with my hair and lift up the edge of my caftan to giggle at my legs. They were silly, fun, laughing and serious. I grew to know a lot of them very well despite our differences, though, not well enough in a way that would have upset the sultan. I wouldn’t have dreamed of sleeping with any of them, and they knew it. There was only one person I wanted.

I wanted him day and night, no matter what I was doing, where I was. It didn’t matter anymore; the only thing I cared about was pleasing him, making love to him, being with him. I’d found he had a penchant for a silk, or a fetish some might say. He loved that cloth, claiming, to my utter embarrassment, that the only thing softer was my skin. He had a tendency to do that to me. Compliment me when I was least expecting it; spill tender words when I didn’t think he would ever say such things.

Then one day I found it, the emerald silk. It was lying in the bottom of one of the many chests hidden within the harem. Occasionally the chests would be stuffed with linens or mementos. But once in a while they held clothing, such as this one did.

Once I had finally found it, I couldn’t bring myself to wear it. I would look at it, look at myself, and then wonder what on earth I was doing in a harem in Istanbul. The problem was, that the outfit was extremely... feminine. I didn’t mind the caftans, hell the sultan wore one. But this was different. This was crossing a line I didn’t know if I could cross. I’d always considered myself a guy, a male, despite what I found myself doing with Heero.

But this emerald silk outfit, it screamed sex. It practically was sex, sex embodied in a garment. A garment that I as a male, just couldn’t wear. I felt that if I put it on, I would be sacrificing whatever was left of my pride. Yet, I wanted to wear it, knew I had to.

In the end, it was my friends within the harem that helped me out. After spending a month contained by the same restrictions as they, I had managed to learn some of the language. This was after all, a total immersion situation; I couldn’t help but pick up a few words. At least enough for basic communication.

They spent the day finding pieces of cloth that matched the emerald coloring, standing me like a mannequin within a small room filled with mirrors. Poking me with little fingers, tossing cloth this way and that around my body, until they were satisfied with the results.

I barely recognized myself in the mirrors; so different was I from my usual demeanor. In spite of what I had thought, I looked surprisingly masculine in the slithering, sensual cloth. They’d rigged the silk so that it slid low over my hips, draping and revealing the slim lines of my stomach and lower abdomen, flowing around my legs to hide or caress them. Thin gold bands wrapped around my upper arms, accenting the toned muscles. Oil rubbed into my skin bringing out a soft golden glow, along with a subtle fragrance.

I had tried to argue them out of the kohl around my eyes, but had found myself actually being held down by a body of women, as they smudged the dark makeup onto my face. But in the end, I found it wasn’t all that bad. It brought out my eyes so that they gleamed with an extra depth. I would’ve almost said hypnotically. It was a good trick.

The final preparations were the hours spent brushing my hip length hair into submission, running a light, spicy smelling oil through it until it gleamed. Before I left them to head back to my own quarters, they stopped me, and each kissed me gently on my mouth in parting, leaving behind a residue of berries that I tasted all the way back to my green and gold tiled room.

***

When he came to me later that evening, I was ready for him. Stretched out and lounging on the low circular bed, wanting to run and hide, but staying my ground instead. I’d been hard for hours with the wanting of him, desire a palpable thing in the air around me I was sure.

I smiled seductively at him as he stood by the door, crooking a finger invitingly. "I know what you want." I whispered to him in a low, throaty voice that carried across the room.

His eyes took on an added light I’d learned to recognize, a look just for me. He approached the bed slowly, as if stalking it. His feet were noiseless, black robes gently swaying as he stepped closer. He knelt down next to the bed, for all the world looking like a shadow at worship.

I felt suddenly wanton and wicked, a powerful combination that both frightened and excited me. It was intoxicating to know that he was mine, and that no matter how much he claimed to own me, I owned him just as much. I knew at that moment, he would have given me anything I asked for. But, there was only one thing I wanted.

I ran a hand through my hair, letting it fall in a soft fan against my naked stomach, watching him as I did. I reached out and trailed a finger down his nose, tapping the tip. "I know what you want." I said again, sliding my feet off the bed so that I sat between his legs where he knelt on the floor. I lifted one foot, idly brushing it against his thigh. Looking up I met his eyes. "You want me."

He remained silent, seemingly entranced, though his lips had parted, letting out a barely audible groan. I shifted closer to him, gliding my fingers briefly over his cheek, resting a hand against his face, then leaning in and staring into his eyes at close range. "You want to fill me, take me, use me." I nuzzled his cheek, whispering in his ear. "But you’re mine."

He shivered, leaning into my touch, and I smiled against him. "Get on the bed, take off your clothes, and don’t move unless I say so." And to my surprise, he did just that.

I watched as his robes disappeared, golden skin revealed in seconds. He slid onto the bed, lying on his back and gazing at me. I crawled over to him, straddling his waist and looking down into his eyes. "Tonight you will provide for me anything and everything I ask of you, without question. Do you understand?"

He nodded, and I slid against him briefly, letting him taste the feel of me for a moment. I brushed my lips across his, slipping my tongue along his lower lip then biting hard. "First," I said on a soft exhalation. "I want you bound. Bind yourself for me Heero." I leaned back up, sitting on his thighs. The silk slipped across the bed and around his wrists, I glanced behind, and watched as it covered his ankles.

"Very good." I purred, rubbing a hand over his arousal, watching as the muscles rippled across his body in reaction. "Now supply me with a small bowl of oil." A tiny bowl appeared in the hollow of his stomach, the liquid within, shiny and dark. I dipped a finger in, bringing it dripping to my mouth. "Is it sweet Heero? Does it taste good?" And I watched as the oil changed color slightly, a soft smell emanating from it. I sucked on my fingertip, and it was sweet, light, spicy, just like he tasted.

I skimmed my hand through the bowl, coating it in oil and then letting it drip onto his chest and belly. His skin jumped as each droplet struck. I scooped up more of the oil, letting it cup in my palm and drizzle through my fingers over his twitching cock. He groaned softly, shifting his hips on the bed, raising them slightly, offering himself to me.

I knelt up on my knees, rubbing my hands together, covering them both with the slick substance. Then, keeping my eyes locked on his face, I slowly caressed my chest, circling my nipples, pinching them to hardened points. My other hand leaving a shining path as it explored further to slip inside my silks.

He moaned, closing his eyes as if he couldn’t bear the sight, then opening them again to watch my every move. His hands clenched inside the silk bonds, spasming as if dying to touch my body.

I rocked against his thighs, sliding my fingers around myself, knowing he was observing. My head tilted back, a low whimper easing out of my throat as my slick fingers stroked the hardened shaft between my legs. I remembered he was watching and met his eyes again, slowing the rough stroking, then stopping and once more dipping my fingers in the bowl of oil. "Do you want me to taste you?"

He nodded mutely, licking his lips as I eased backwards down his legs. I slid my fingers around his erection, coating it until it was glossy and wet with the oil. His back arched, and he panted as I relentlessly fondled him. It took an almost painful amount of will power to remove my hand from him. Slowly I bowed my mouth towards his straining member, licking it like a cat with cream, lapping at it, nuzzling my cheek against it until it trembled and begged me of its own accord.

"Mmm, it feels so good just touching you." I murmured, lying beside his bound form, fingers still idly toying with him. I crawled up until my head rested against his shoulder. He turned his face, staring at me with eyes gone brilliant with desire and need. "Do you want release Heero?" And the question held an undertone I hadn’t meant to add.

His eyes slitted and he leaned his head towards me, taking my mouth in a swift, hard kiss. My hands twined through his hair, body mindlessly rubbing against him as his tongue entered and danced with my own. I could feel him tugging on the silk bindings, fighting against himself to be free. He wasn’t the only one rapidly losing control.

My leg slipped between his, grinding against his thickness, while I unthinkingly pounded against his hip, craving my own climax. His lips against mine were an unending torment, rapidly driving my yearning into a burning need to have him buried deep inside of me. I pulled back finally, breathing heavily, trying to regain control of myself. "How badly do you want me Heero? How much more can you take?"

His eyes opened, focusing on mine in a dazed way. I sent a questing hand to find the bowl of oil, only to discover it’d been knocked over. I frowned, and then smiled at him. "Make more."

Another bowl appeared, this time sitting on his chest. Never releasing his gaze, I slowly tipped the small bowl, so that its contents spilled across and down his body, shining rivulets and drops collecting and running onto the sheets.

I was making a mess, and I didn’t care. Because the look in his eyes was enough to make my heart start hammering, my blood pulse, my body hot all over, feverish. "Oh god Heero... " I clamped my mouth to his again, climbing on top of him, and grinding into him as hard as I could, wanting nothing more than the pure physical sensation of his body pressed against me.

There was the sound of cloth ripping, shredding, and then his arms were around me, pulling me tightly to him, rolling me beneath him.

"Enough." He growled, fingers fumbling and then tearing the emerald silks from my body. "I tire of this teasing game, you are mine."

I moaned as he rolled me over again, one strong arm pulling me up onto my hands and knees, spreading my legs far apart on the oil soaked bed. I turned my head, glancing over my shoulder to watch him. He looked fierce, almost angry, then he smiled grimly at me and a bowl of oil appeared in his hand. With a wide grin, he dumped it down my back, spreading it further down, hand slipping between my cheeks to rub against my entrance.

I raised my hips, knowing what was coming next and wanting it so bad I was shaking. His fingers opened me and thrust inside, stretching me quickly and without his usual care. It only turned me on more to know he was so out of control, so close to the edge. "Show me Heero... god... yes...show me I’m yours... "

The breath left my lungs in a loud gasp as he gripped my hip with one hand and began pushing inside of me with that thick, hard length of him. It was like being torn in two without the tearing, split, impaled. It felt so good. Every oil-slicked inch of him was hot and throbbing as he leisurely entered, sending shudders and tremors from the inside out to crackle across my body.

Finally, he was completely buried inside, and he stilled. Leaning over my shoulder, he rolled his hips in small, tight circles. "Ahhh, do you see what you make me do?" The slight movement changed, becoming a deeper, pumping action. "You make me lose all control." He whispered against my neck, arms circling me, holding me tighter, his breath heaving out in ragged pants.

His hips began snapping, driving into my body with more force, slamming me down and up, filling, and filling. A scream of absolute rapture roiled up within my chest, welling out and seeming to shake the very tiles of the room. I started sobbing for breath, unable to bear the sensations, feeling myself slipping beyond reality to float in a hazy cloud of pure movement and desire. A constant chant fell from my lips as his length glided in and out like a living machine.

With a final thrust, his hand wrapped around my quivering arousal and gave it a few hard strokes, sending me jolting up onto my knees as he exploded within my body, crooning into my neck. "Mine, always mine."

Shaking, he lowered me gently to the bed, easing out and rolling me over, kissing away the tears that had leaked from my sightless eyes. Curling his body around mine, his lips drifted across my own, lingering and soft. "Did I hurt you?" He asked in a tender tone I’d never heard before.

In answer, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him to me, draping my limbs over him in a tired heap. "Never." I said, and meant it.


	10. Chapter 10

I sighed, snuggling within the arms that wrapped around me, the warm chest pressed against my back, the body curved around my own. Three months and two days I'd been here with him. I had changed, I knew I had. I was no longer whom I'd been when I had arrived. "Mmm Heero... " I rolled over, burying my face into the crook of his neck and breathing deeply.

Something was different, I couldn't explain what. Just some odd thing that kept trying to pull at my mind. I ignored it and began nibbling on his neck, sliding my tongue out to taste his golden skin. His arms tightened in their circle around me, hands rubbing down my back. Again, something tried to tug at my mind, call attention to whatever was out of place.

I leaned my head back, opening my eyes and immediately sinking into his cobalt gaze. "Morning." I yawned, stifling it against his neck. I blinked a few times, wondering why the sheets looked so odd. Absently I brushed my fingers over the cool cotton. Strange, we'd never had cotton sheets before... "Holy shit!"

I leapt off the bed, whirling around and staring wildly about the room. I was back in the hotel. Home, no... not home, not home at all.

My gaze went like a magnet to Heero's figure. I glared at him, and stalked towards the bed. He looked different, not my Djinn and yet he was. "Why am I here!? You bastard! You knew me! You knew me all along!" I froze, shaking with pent up emotion, the strain of having been so changed in such a short amount of time. Everything had changed.

"Damn you." I whispered, and then collapsed into a heap on the floor and started to cry. I couldn't seem to bring my thoughts into focus, couldn't concentrate on anything. My mind kept whirling, I was angry, confused, and frustrated. "You knew... " It was a cold accusation, I felt blinded, betrayed somehow.

His hand rested on my shoulder, an unsure touch, tentative. "I knew."

"How could you do that to me? Why?" I felt miserable, used, cheated, more confused then ever.

His fingers tightened on my shoulder, and he sank down onto the floor beside me, hand lifting my chin, eyes meeting mine. "What was I going to do? Tell you? Would you have understood? Would you have believed me? I had to wait for you to make that wish, wait for you to find out for yourself."

I shook my head, staring at the floor, at my bare feet, the jeans encasing my legs. I was wearing the same outfit I had been when I left, right down to the tank top. "What day is it? How long have I been gone?" My voice had taken on a leaden tone, a tone to match how I felt, dead inside.

"You have been gone for only a few hours."

"Jesus... " I still couldn't focus, it was like a dream. I didn't know what was real and what was all in my imagination anymore. I looked up, meeting that electric stare. "Why am I back?"

"The sultan made his final wish, breaking the spell." He sat down, crossing his legs, resting his hand on my thigh. I realized he was my size, and it was weird to be on the same level with him after so much time, eye to eye. "You have to understand, that when the sultan made his final wish, I was back in the bottle, trapped for another lifetime until the next master found me."

I nodded, relaxing a bit. "Yes, and so I was sent back here. But why Heero? Why did you do all this to me?"

He was silent for a long time, his hand absently rubbing my leg. "You are the first person who ever wanted me for being myself." He said finally. "I realized as soon as I saw you again, lying on the floor. After nearly two hundred years of oblivion, something was different. I have never met someone twice in my life." He shook his head, smiling at me. "It was so strange to see this face once more," He trailed his hand over my cheek, his eyes on mine. "Such a beautiful face," He said softly, "and there it was again."

I leaned into his palm, closing my eyes. "So you played with me."

"No. I did not know about the future, only the past. I did not know what your wishes would be." I opened my eyes, watching as a small smile spread his lips briefly before disappearing. "I thought it was ironic that your very first wish was to know more about me."

"When you knew all about me already. I don't know what to think Heero. I don't know what to say. You've been lying to me from the start." I pushed his hands away, standing up unsteadily. "Wishing for you to tell me about yourself didn't work, I don't even think you can tell the truth." I hissed, turning and heading for the bathroom. I didn't bother to glance behind me, just slammed the door and leaned against it.

I had to be alone for a while, get my head together. I had just spent three months being nothing but his and his alone. It was a hard habit to break.

***

I took the precaution of locking the bathroom door before stripping off my clothes and climbing into the tub to have a good, long thinking session. The water slowly wrapped itself around my body, cocooning me in warmth. And my mind drifted with it.

Wishes, wishes and wishes. How many times in my life, had I dreamed of such things being real? How many times had I wondered if stories could be true, if love could be real? In a way, love had always seemed like just another story to me. But if one was a reality, why not the other?

Heero had changed my entire life, turning all I'd ever known upside down. I still wanted him, craved him. In a way I couldn't understand, I needed him. I heard my own voice echo off the tiled walls of the bathroom. "Bastard."

So, what was I going to do about it all? I still had one last wish to make. And this time I wasn't going to mess it up. He wouldn't trick me again. It had to be something I truly wanted, something just for me.

"Heero?" I called, opening my eyes and sitting up in the cooling water. "Heero!"

The doorknob rattled for a moment, reminding me I had locked it. I blinked and watched in surprise as he walked through it, just walked through the door like it wasn't even there.

"Jesus you're amazing." I said half in admiration, half in annoyance.

"What do you need?" He asked, kneeling down next to the bathtub, eyes intense.

"My final wish. I know what I want now. You can interpret it however you will." I took a deep breath, and then lifted my chin, meeting his eyes and leaning forward. "I wish that we would be equal. Completely equal, always."

He stared at me for a long, silent moment, and then his eyes went wide, a strange look on his face. He looked... afraid. To my shock, those cobalt eyes took on a wet sheen.

"Heero... you're crying... " I reached out a finger to trace the single tear that shimmered a path down his cheek.

"Your wish... " He paused, looking so forlorn, so unsure. "Your wish is my command."

And then the world stopped.


	11. Chapter 11

Sometimes, you have to take everything you know, and everything you think you know, and throw it all away. Because you find out, that maybe, just maybe, it was all wrong.

When I wished my final wish, I didn’t know what would happen, I had purposely left it up to Heero to take it wherever he would. For all I knew he would make us equally dead. But, I didn’t think so.

So what happened? The world ended.

And then, it began again.

***

I still sat in the tub, my hand extended towards him. I waited a moment, thinking maybe a wish like that took more time. Nothing happened. "Well?"

He stared at me, still with that strange look, fear.

"What did you do?" I was starting to get a bit afraid myself. Hell, anything could have happened. For all I knew, I would walk out of the bathroom to find nothing there. "Come on Heero, this isn't funny and I'm not laughing. What did you do?"

His mouth opened and shut a few times, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I don't know, I just made us equal. Wishes are granted in strange ways, I've never controlled them. They happen as I feel truly in my heart." He stopped and rolled his eyes, looking for a moment like he was trying to see his own mouth.

"Well that was weird, you've never... " I leaned over and peered at him. "That's odd."

"What?" He stood up, whirling around and glancing in the mirror. He didn't look any different, except perhaps, for the fact that his eyes had changed. His mouth hung open as he stared and stared at his reflection. I got out of the tub and stood behind him.

"They're beautiful. But what's it mean?"

He turned and I looked at his eyes more closely. They were softer, more human, and yet they still had that extra light to them, as if something stood inside him and peered out.

"What have you done Duo?"

"I don't know!" Then I looked at him in shock. He had never, ever, referred to me by my name before. Human, Master, slave, but never my name. What the hell was going on? "I know, try to be bigger then me."

It was a silly thing to ask, and yet I wondered what would happen. Then, he was larger than life and the same as he had been in the palace. I looked up at him, feeling a strange sense of ... home. "We can't be equal, can we?"

He shook his head, holding out his hands helplessly.

"Wait a minute, then why aren't you in your bottle?"

Both our heads turned towards the bottle where it still lay on the bathroom counter. He picked it up, holding it in his hands and then setting it down again, slowly, cautiously.

I picked up the bottle and glanced at him. "Well? What does it all mean? Why aren’t you back inside here?" I shook the bottle slightly, waving it about for a moment.

"Don’t!" He grabbed my arm, taking the bottle and carefully laying it back on the counter. "I don’t know what any of this means."

That’s when I looked into the mirror, and froze. "Oh my god... "

Heero turned and glanced at what had stolen my attention. "Holy shit!" He said, echoing my sentiments exactly.

My eyes had become like his. They had kept their amethyst coloring, they just seemed to have that same added something, that extra that humans didn’t have. I turned and gave him a glance. "Holy shit? Why are you talking so differently? And why are you using conjunctions all of a sudden? What did you do?"

"I made us equal, equal as I truly felt. That’s how wishing works. You always thought it was because we’re tricky, when really; it’s the human mind and the human heart that are the tricky things. A wish is granted with true desire."

"So, what you’re saying is, however you felt deep down inside, is whatever has happened?" I raised an eyebrow and turned from the mirror. "What did you truly feel Heero? What could make us equal?"

"Emotions."

"There’s more though, why else would my eyes change, and yours too. And you said my name, and... " I stopped talking, something hammering against my mind, trying to gain my attention. "Magic, you still have magic."

"Yes. The magic is a part of me, I don’t think I could stop that if I tried."

"But if you still have your magic... and we’re even..." I blinked a few times as I realized what I’d just said. "I don’t want to be in a bottle!" I wailed at the top of my lungs.

The bathroom mirror splintered, shattering into a million fragments that scattered across the sink. Heero grabbed the bottle and held it out of harms way, small cuts suddenly appearing on his back and shoulders as the glass struck him.

I fell onto the floor, arms crossed over my head to protect myself as the glass continued to rain around us. I could feel the tiny bites as the shattered mirror slashed into my skin. Then it quieted at last, a few faint tinkling sounds the only noise as the glass settled.

Slowly I looked up, and then looked at Heero where he too crouched on the floor, cradling the bottle in his arms. "What was that?"

"Your power." He said softly, standing up and brushing a few stray slivers of mirror from his arms.

I tilted my head, regarding him holding the bottle so tenderly. "If that breaks," I said gesturing at the bottle, "do you die or something?"

"I don’t know. It’s cursed so that it’s a part of me. All I know is that if something happens to it, it happens to me too."

"Oh." We stood across from each other, silent. I thought of something. "Give me the bottle for a moment Heero?"

He held it out, and I took it, rolling it in my hands, looking at it from all angles. Then, I very slowly and deliberately began to shove it inside my chest. I know that sounds odd, and it was. I don’t know where the idea came from either. It just suddenly hit me that the bottle was the key. It seemed as if some part of me I never knew was there, knew exactly what to do.

Heero watched in shock, as the last of its dark and fluted shape slipped between my ribs. I let out a shaky breath and met his eyes. "It’s mine now, just like you."

"What did you do!?" He yelled, crossing to my side and laying a hand over the smooth, unbroken skin of my chest.

I smiled at him. "I don’t know. It just seemed like the only thing to do." I could feel it inside of me, sitting just near my heart. Larger than life. "I think it’s killing me." I said, meeting his eyes.

"Fool. Idiot. There are other ways. What were you trying to do?"

I slid to the floor, clutching at my chest, feeling the thick glass surrounded by my blood and flesh. "I was trying to free you."

"I’m already free you fool. It was part of your last wish."

I started to chuckle weakly. "You never have given me enough information."


	12. Chapter 12

Have you ever had to cry and it gets caught in your throat? How about when you have the hiccups and they start to hurt? Imagine those things, then amplify them a hundred fold. That’s what it felt like to have a bottle, a whole, unshattered bottle, sitting beneath my ribs with my heart beating away right beside it.

Heero was down on his knees hovering over me looking completely terrified. I might have found it funny, if I wasn’t in so much pain at the time.

"What were you thinking?" He hissed, laying a hesitant palm over my heart.

"Just heal it!"

"I can’t, I don’t know what it is I would be healing. I’ve never seen anything like this before."

"That’s just wonderful, fix it!"

His face grew hard for moment. "You fool. Why did you do that?" Then his eyes softened. "It was finally over, I was finally free."

"What, now you’re not?"

"I don’t know."

"There suddenly seems to be a lot of things you don’t know." I sat up on my elbows; the pain of the bottle seemed to be ebbing away. His eyebrows rose up nearly to his hairline, and he sat back, watching me.

"What does it feel like?" He asked curiously.

"Weird. It’s stopped hurting." I gave him a puzzled look, and rubbed at my chest.

"Oh!" I jumped in surprise. It was... beating. Like a second heart. My thumb rubbed over the spot it had gone in. "What the hell is it doing?"

"Hmm, it was cursed to hold me... " he stopped, staring off into space for a moment. "Except... Until... " He paused in mid motion, his mouth dropping open. "Until the master becomes the slave and true love receives what was arrogance undone." His eyes took on a bright look, almost reverent as he turned to gaze down at me. "That’s why you did it... "

"What are you talking about?" I stood up, feeling strangely energized.

"With every curse comes a cure. That was the riddle that went with mine. That was the only way to free me. I wasn’t always in that bottle."

"That’s great, but why’s it beating?"

"It’s what?" He leaned over and laid his palm against my chest. Our eyes met.

"What’s it mean? What’s it doing?" I asked in fear. We both jumped, as it seemed to get louder, almost as if it were coming closer somehow. "Heero, this feels really weird." Then, that extra heartbeat gave a giant thump and stopped.

Unthinkingly I clasped my hand over his where it still rest on my chest. There was a crackling sound, like a circuit being connected. I half expected the lights to flicker but they didn’t. Instead, my body flickered. Like a film running out on a movie reel. I tried to say something and it came out wispy and fragile, barely audible. "Help."

"You’re becoming a Djinn." He whispered, face intent, fingers flexing beneath my own.

I shook my head, feeling my entire body start to tingle, sparks flying from my flickering skin. My non-voice wheezed out like a soft vapor cloud. "How?"

"It was the curse, only when I... when I truly thought someone was my equal would I be free. They thought I was so arrogant that it would never happen." He seemed to see the questions in my eyes. "Yes, ever since I met you in the palace. You’ve always been different."

My eyes squeezed shut as a particularly sharp jolt ran down my spine.

"You’re coming back to normal." I heard him say, his hand slipping from beneath mine.

"How can I ever be normal again?" My voice rang out. I opened my eyes, glancing at my arms. They were normal again. I patted my chest, wondering whatever happened to the pain I’d been feeling so sharply minutes before. Things had happened so fast, I’d barely had time to register them. "Do I look any different?"

"No, except for your eyes you look the same. How do you feel?"

"Godly." I grinned at him. "Is this how you always feel?" Then I remembered. "How can we be both Djinn and human? And how can you give me so much power? What happened to the bottle? What happened to me?"

"Maybe we had better clean this up," He gestured at the broken mirror that was scattered all over the bathroom, "and have a talk."

"Yeah, maybe we should." I glanced at the mirror. "I wonder how you fix something that’s this broken."

He smiled, taking my hand.

"Like this."

He did it slowly, savoring it, or so it seemed. I felt each little piece as it came together, each particle of it put into place again. "God, it feels like sex." I mumbled.

His fingers tightened on mine and the sensation grew stronger, flowing up my arm and over my body in a wave. "Heero?"

"Yes?" He turned to face me, watching the mirror put itself back together out of the corner of his eye.

"What does it feel like to create?"

He smiled at me, leaning closer and trailing his fingers over my jaw. "Why don’t you try it?"

I grinned at him. "How about breakfast?"

***

If you ever have the chance, do not try hickory smoked eggs with chocolate garnish and tie-dyed shrimp tea. Creating things was a lot harder than say, going to the store and just buying them. Or finding a nice restaurant. What pissed me off was that Heero made it look so easy.

I’d gotten dressed again finally, slipping into my clothes and feeling odd. We sat across from each other on the floor of the hotel room. Various strange and highly exotic foods sat between us. I held up a hand, a strawberry sitting on my palm. Well, at least it looked like a strawberry.

"Go on, try it."

Heero shook his head back and forth. "Not if you payed me with pure platinum."

"Well." I held the perfect, red, plump, ripe strawberry up to the light streaming in through the window. "Maybe it won’t be so bad. Come on, just try it?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"How about for a kiss?"

"N... o...hmm... "

I smiled at him. "Well?"

"If that strawberry tastes like that apple did... "

"How can it possibly be worse?"

He raised an eyebrow, leaning across the pile of food. "That apple Duo, tasted like shit."

I flushed, averting my eyes. "I didn’t know it would taste like that. I swear!"

He glared, then picked up the strawberry and eyed it for a moment. "Kiss me first, just in case this tastes like that apple did."

"I see you have faith in my abilities."

"Let’s just say, at some things you’re a natural, and this isn’t one of them." He grinned at me, showing his teeth in a wolfish way.

"Bastard." I leaned over the small distance that separated us. "I’m glad you changed my life. I’m glad I bought your bottle." I leaned in until my lips just brushed his. "But I’m really glad you’re such a mmph... " I never could concentrate when he kissed me.

***

You probably wonder how all of my questions were answered, or what it was like to suddenly be part Djinn. You might wonder how I could forgive him so easily, if we ever told each other of our love. There’s really only one answer to your questions.

It’s not over yet.


End file.
